Skip to main content

Iranian strike kills 11-year-old Iranian in Kuwait

The incident marks a new phase in the US-Israeli war on Iran as Gulf nations face the brunt of Iran's retaliation
Mourners carry the coffin of Alna Abdullah, 11, ahead of her burial in Kuwait City, Kuwait, on 4 March 2026 (Screengrab)

An 11-year-old girl in Kuwait was killed in her home when the remnants of an Iranian rocket hit a residential building in Al-Asimah, the capital governorate. 

The health ministry said doctors tried to resuscitate Alna Abdullah for nearly 30 minutes before she was declared dead in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Four other members of Abdullah's family present in the home did not sustain any serious injuries. 

Local media only described them as being non-Kuwaiti. Videos and interviews from the funeral suggest they are Iranian. 

Among Kuwait's citizens, up to 40 percent are Shia Muslims of Iranian origin. 

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

This is the first known case of a child being killed in a Gulf country as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and Iran’s subsequent attacks on Gulf nations that host US military assets.

It comes just hours after Kuwait buried two members of its military after they were killed in Iranian attacks.

Six American soldiers were also killed in Kuwait this week. The country plays host to three large US military bases, and up to five other smaller US-run sites. 

The attacks on Kuwait have ignited a sense of unity after a tense couple of years since the emir dissolved the only parliament in the Gulf, and began stripping citizenship away from tens of thousands of people, alleging fraud. 

Names and ages of children killed in strike on Iranian school
Read More »

Some 16 percent of Kuwaitis have lost their citizenship as of last month. 

Earlier this week, Kuwait's minister of health was the subject of outrage online after he gave an interview about a group of people who were transferred to a hospital following an Iranian attack.

"None of them, thank God, are Kuwaiti," he said

"Not surprising," someone commented, "considering that Kuwaitis make up only about 30 percent of the population of his so-called 'country'. Nearly 45 percent are South Asian nationals."

In what appeared to be a bid to calm tensions, former speaker of the national assembly, Marzouq al-Ghanim, told reporters at Abdullah's funeral: "All who live on the land of Kuwait, according to Kuwaitis, is a Kuwaiti."

Kuwait has sent formal requests to both the secretary general of the United Nations and the president of the UN Security Council to demand that they condemn Iran's "heinous" attacks, which Kuwait says violate its sovereignty and airspace, the Kuwait Times reported.

Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.