Qatar’s Defence Ministry claimed on Monday that its forces “successfully shot down” two fighter aircraft incoming from Iran.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, the Qatari defence systems also intercepted seven ballistic missiles and five drones.
Earlier in the day, the US and Israel pounded targets across Iran, bombing the country’s ballistic missile sites and wiping out fighter jets and warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
US shares video of bombing
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) shared a video on the social media platform X, claiming to have hit Iranian jets under ongoing Operation Epic Fury.
“U.S. forces are taking bold action to eliminate imminent threats posed by the Iranian regime. Strikes continue,” CENTCOM wrote in the post along with the video.
In a later post, it also revealed that 3 US F-15 jets crashed in Kuwait on Monday, blaming the West Asian ally for ‘mistakenly’ downing them in what it called an “apparent friendly fire” incident. It added that all six air crew ejected and were stable.
The conflict widens
Blasts rattled windows across Iran and sent plumes of smoke high into the sky above the capital, Tehran. More than 550 people have been killed since the start of the strikes that killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and at US military installations around the Gulf, and also at the Saudi capital and the global business hub of Dubai. Hezbollah also joined in the fight, attacking Israel with rockets, to which Tel Aviv retaliated by bombing the areas held by it in the Southern suburbs of Beirut. The Lebanese government banned Hezbollah’s military activities.
Earlier Sunday, Iran selected a 66-year-old cleric, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, to join the three-member leadership council that will govern the country until a new supreme leader is selected.