CBS Obtains Video of Iranian Strikes That Forced U.S. Troops to Abandon Camp Buehring in Kuwait
Footage and witness accounts show ballistic missiles, drones and Iranian F-5 jets hitting the base. Troops fled into the desert at night, and one source says the camp was demolished.
New video obtained by CBS News shows Iranian missiles, drones and aircraft striking Camp Buehring in Kuwait, and it details how U.S. troops abandoned the base seven months into the war with Iran. The footage was recorded by a person stationed on the ground. CBS authenticated it by checking the files' embedded metadata and comparing the images with other photos of damage at the base.
The videos show impact points, explosions and the aftermath, including damaged buildings and military equipment. U.S. forces faced ballistic missiles, drones and what witnesses described as Iranian F-5 fighter jets. Three service members told CBS the F-5s were used in the attacks. NBC News first reported that detail in April.
Camp Buehring sits about 25 miles from the Iraqi border and has been a major U.S. staging ground for more than two decades. About 7,000 troops were stationed there before the war. Most were moved out under what the Pentagon calls a "get off the X" plan, which means leaving positions that are vulnerable to attack. More than 100 soldiers stayed, and they feared the base was ill-equipped to handle a mass-casualty event.
CBS learned that defenders ran critically low on .50-caliber ammunition. A senior Army logistics official confirmed concerns about that ammunition and about scarce "exquisite" munitions such as Patriot batteries. U.S. Central Command declined to comment. The Pentagon pointed to remarks by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 4, when he said, "we moved the vast majority of American troops" out of Iranian range.
One source described the attacks bluntly. "They hit us bad," the source said, adding that the troops "had to abandon the base." Soldiers loaded vehicles and drove at night into the Kuwaiti desert, where remote sites were turned into forward operating bases. In late April, two soldiers were struck by lightning in the Udari Desert, according to U.S. officials. One suffered burns and the other a ruptured eardrum. No one was killed by enemy fire at Camp Buehring or the forward bases, though several people were hurt. In May the troops left those sites for Camp Arifjan and were later moved in and out of the Middle East.
The Defense Department inspector general has reported equipment losses of up to $3.7 billion, including nearly 60 aircraft. A Congressional Research Service report said 81 fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft, including drones, had been lost or damaged since February. The inspector general's mandatory report to Congress lists Iranian strikes on U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. The deadliest attack of the war, at the Port of Shuaiba, killed six U.S. service members.
The source who spoke to CBS said "CBKU got demolished," using the base's military abbreviation, and asked, "How come no one came to reinforce us?" The source called for an investigation into why the camp was left so exposed.
