Kuwait blames Iran for second attack on power and water facilities in two days

A power generation and water desalination plant in Kuwait was attacked for the second time in two days, sparking fires and disrupting electricity production, Kuwaiti authorities said, blaming the attack on Iran. In a statement posted on the social media platform X on Sunday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said the attack triggered fires in several parts of the facility, prompting the relevant authorities to activate emergency response plans. Firefighting teams were deployed to the site to extinguish the blazes, while technical teams and emergency response personnel worked to restore the affected power generation units and stabilise the national electricity grid, the ministry said. The ministry also urged the public to reduce electricity consumption during this period to help ease the burden on the power system. Earlier the same day, the General Staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces said in a statement posted on X that explosions heard in several parts of the country were caused by air defence systems intercepting enemy attacks. This latest attack follows a similar strike targeting Kuwaiti electricity and water facilities on Saturday, which Kuwaiti authorities said was carried out by Iran. Meanwhile, the General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) stated on Sunday that its air defence systems successfully intercepted a number of Iranian aerial attacks targeting the country. In a statement, the BDF said Iran continues to pursue ‘systematic hostile actions’ through attacks targeting civilians in the kingdom, calling it a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. The United States has launched several waves of strikes against Iran in recent days, stating the operations aim to ‘degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping’ in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian forces responded by launching missile and drone attacks targeting US bases and facilities in several countries across the Middle East region, including Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.