A Qatari military officer has reported that one of nineteen missiles fired by Iran struck a US base located in Qatar. Major General Shayeq Al Hajri informed reporters that while Qatari air defences intercepted a significant number of the projectiles, one missile did manage to impact the Al Udeid base. The Al Udeid base is the largest American air base in the Middle East.
According to Al Hajri, Iran initially launched seven missiles, all of which were intercepted over the sea separating the two nations. Subsequently, a further twelve missiles were fired, with eleven being intercepted over Qatari territory. However, despite these efforts, one missile successfully reached and hit the US base. The extent of the damage caused by the impact remains unclear at this time.
The reported number of missiles fired differs from figures previously released by former US President Donald Trump, who stated that only fourteen missiles were launched. Trump claimed that thirteen of these were successfully intercepted, and one was allowed to proceed due to posing no immediate threat. Trump thanked Iran for providing advance notice of the attack.
In a statement released on his Truth Social network, Trump described the Iranian attack on the Al Udeid base as ‘very weak’. Further investigations are underway to ascertain the full extent of the damage and to reconcile the conflicting reports regarding the number of missiles involved and their interception.
