Fire at Kuwait refinery as Gulf states come under drone, missile attacks

Drone attacks caused fire at Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery on Friday (March 20, 2026), state media reported, as authorities in several Gulf states said they were responding to attacks from Iran.

Iran has stepped up attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure in recent days, hitting refineries and the world’s biggest gas hub in Qatar, as Tehran retaliated over Israeli strikes on its South Pars gas field.

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The official Kuwait News Agency, citing the national oil company, said “several hostile drone attacks” hit the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, causing fires but no casualties.

It said firefighters were working to contain the blazes while “several refinery units were shut down”.

Earlier on Friday (March 20), Bahrain’s interior ministry said that shrapnel from an “Iranian aggression” caused a fire at a warehouse, which was brought under control and resulted in no injuries.

In Kuwait, an army statement said air defences were “responding to hostile missile and drone threats”, while the UAE state media reported “incoming missile and drone threats from Iran”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency that they had targeted US forces in the UAE’s Al-Dhafra air base as well as sites in Israel with missiles and drones.

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said that within about two hours, its forces had “intercepted and destroyed” more than a dozen drones in the country’s east and another in the north.