US soldiers who survived an Iranian drone strike on a US base in the Kuwaiti port of Al-Shuaiba accused their commanders of betrayal and ignoring warnings of a possible attack, The Washington Post reported, citing military officials and sources familiar with the internal investigation.
According to the publication, the strike took place on March 1, the second day of the war between the US and Iran. It killed six soldiers from the US Army's 103rd Logistics Command and injured dozens of others. The newspaper called the attack one of the deadliest for US troops during the conflict.
The military personnel interviewed by WP claim that the command ignored intelligence indicating that the Al-Shuaiba port was a likely Iranian target. They say that stationing personnel at the facility was not advisable due to insufficient protection against drones.
Some of the interviewees also criticized the actions of Brigadier General Clint Barnes during the attack. According to their version, after the strike, he left the building and went into cover, while many soldiers remained inside. Other officers and soldiers, according to WP sources, participated in the rescue of the victims.
“If we don't learn from these mistakes, if we all believe the same lies, then this will happen to another unit later and they will find themselves in the same situation that we were in“, said Major Stephen Ramsbottom, who was in the attacked building.
The US Army refused to comment to the publication on the specific allegations of the soldiers and called the actions of the command and the decisions made justified.
According to WP, an internal investigation into the incident is nearing completion. The publication's sources said that its preliminary findings do not foresee disciplinary measures and do not impose personal responsibility on commanders for the deployment of the unit in the port of Al-Shuaiba or for organizing medical care after the strike.
According to a CNN source, the strike occurred on the morning of March 1. The attack caught the troops off guard, preventing them from evacuating or seeking shelter. Several hours after the strike, the fire continued inside, the blast wave destroyed walls, and individual structural elements were torn off the structure.
The next day, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that six American service members had been killed in Iran's initial retaliatory strikes.