Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Sep 16: Newly released photographs have revealed extensive damage to multiple U.S. military positions across the Middle East following Iranian missile and drone attacks, according to a report.
The photographs, obtained exclusively by CBS News from active-duty U.S. service members who spoke on condition of anonymity, show damage to American military facilities and equipment in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
One photograph taken at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia shows a direct hit on a Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft, with its rear section severely damaged. The aircraft is used for airborne surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Other photographs show a vehicle completely destroyed at Camp Buehring in Kuwait and damage to a building at Camp Arifjan, also in Kuwait, following Iranian strikes.
A deployed U.S. service member told CBS News that the extent of the damage had not been fully communicated to the American public and alleged that American bases were being repeatedly hit.
The latest report follows an acknowledgment last week by Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao that Naval Support Activity Bahrain, a key U.S. naval installation in the region, had sustained significant damage during Iranian attacks.
Cao said the damage to the Bahrain facility had affected operations involving the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, leaving its crew without a place to dock at the installation.
The U.S. military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are among several American positions across the Middle East that have come under attack during the ongoing conflict with Iran.
A recent U.S. government watchdog report separately found that Iranian strikes had damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases across eight countries in the region, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.
The newly released photographs provide additional visual evidence of the damage to American military infrastructure and equipment following the Iranian attacks.