Hours after Iranian drones damaged U.S. Navy facilities in Manama, Bahrain, U.S. Navy Central Command told all servicemembers and contractors who live and work in and around the base that the area is no longer safe and they will receive money to stay in a hotel elsewhere.
An email obtained by Defense One titled “evacuation of Juffair”—the neighborhood in southern Manama that is home to Naval Support Activity Bahrain—says NAVCENT “has concluded that the Juffair boundaries are no longer assessed as safe for US personnel.”
The closure came Saturday night local time, after Iranian drones hit the base and multiple high-rise residential buildings in Bahrain in response to U.S. strikes on Iran. Videos posted on social media purport to show a drone nearing the Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters building, striking a radar inside a large white bubble, and plumes of dark gray smoke billowing from the explosion. Other videos show apparent drone damage to residential high-rise buildings in several areas of Manama, as well as debris from intercepted drones and missiles.
In a statement, the Bahrain Defense Force said it had shot down 45 incoming missiles and nine drones.
Air-raid sirens, followed by all-clear signals, sounded throughout the day, as the U.S. embassy there issued a shelter-in-place order and warned that “even if the incoming missile or drone is intercepted, falling debris represents a significant risk.”
No U.S. casualties have been reported; Fox News reported Thursday that the 5th Fleet headquarters had been operating under reduced staffing. Several hundred families of military and civilian employees live in Bahrain, which has no base family housing and limited barracks facilities. An evacuation of dependents was authorized after the first U.S. strikes on Tehran, Stars & Stripes reported, but the evacuation was not mandatory. Though one flight did depart, further flights are on hold.
Bahrain International Airport was hit by a drone early Sunday local time.
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