The Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery in Kuwait has been attacked by a drone again, UNN reports with reference to CNN.
Details
"On Friday morning, a drone again attacked the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery in Kuwait, causing a fire in several of the plant's units," the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) reported.
The fires led to "a precautionary shutdown of part of the plant," the KPC statement said.
No casualties were reported, and firefighters are actively trying to extinguish the fires, the company added.
Friday's attack came after the Kuwaiti armed forces said the country's air defense was responding to "hostile missile and drone threats."
As AP notes, Iranian state television confirmed the attack on Friday, without claiming responsibility.
Addition
The Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery, located about 40 kilometers south of the Kuwaiti capital, was also attacked by a drone on Thursday.
As AP notes, Mina Al-Ahmadi can process about 730,000 barrels of oil per day. It is one of three refineries in Kuwait, a tiny, oil-rich Persian Gulf country. Friday's attack came as Iran increasingly targets energy facilities in Arab Gulf countries after Israel bombed Iran's massive South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday.
Kuwait cannot export its oil as the war continues, as it relies on its transportation by sea through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, which have recently been frequent targets of Iranian attacks.
What else is known
Here's what else is known on day 21, according to CNN:
- wartime funding: US President Donald Trump confirmed that he is seeking $200 billion from the Pentagon budget, calling it a "small price" for equipping the military;
- regional strikes: Middle Eastern countries continued to intercept strikes at dawn on Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was heeding Trump's call not to repeat attacks on key Iranian energy facilities, such as the South Pars field. Netanyahu said Israel acted alone in striking a gas field-related facility on Wednesday. However, CNN sources refuted Trump's claim that the US "knew nothing" about it;
- oil market: Tehran responded with strikes on energy infrastructure in Israel and Qatar. The oil benchmark reached $115 a barrel on Thursday before falling, with one expert saying fuel prices could remain high for at least several weeks;
- Strait of Hormuz: The United Nations Maritime Organization said it would begin talks with countries on creating a humanitarian corridor to free some 20,000 sailors trapped in the Persian Gulf. The UN did not specify a timeline for the talks or whether Iran, which controls the Strait of Hormuz, would cooperate;
- Pearl Harbor joke: When a reporter asked Trump why he did not inform allies such as Japan of his intention to strike Iran, the president partly responded with a joke about the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor while sitting next to the Japanese prime minister in the Oval Office;
- US aircraft hit: An F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at a US airbase in the Middle East after being hit by what is believed to be Iranian fire, CNN sources said.