Pentagon confirms Iranian missile hit Al Udeid Air Base in June, downplays damage

US President Donald Trump. Pic/AFP

The Pentagon on Friday acknowledged that an Iranian ballistic missile hit Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in June during an Iranian attack after President Donald Trump downplayed the assault. The statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell follows The Associated Press publishing satellite images Friday showing damage from the attack.

Parnell said the strike 'did minimal damage to equipment and structures on the base.' He added: 'Al Udeid Air Base remains fully operational and capable of conducting its mission, alongside our Qatari partners, to provide security and stability in the region.' Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show the geodesic dome visible at the Al Udeid Air Base on the morning of June 23, just hours before the attack.

The US Air Force's 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which operates out of the base, announced in 2016 the installation of the $15 million piece of equipment, known as a modernized enterprise terminal. Photos show a satellite dish inside of the dome, known as a radome. Images taken June 25 and every day subsequently show the dome is gone, with some damage visible on a nearby building. The rest of the base appears largely untouched in the images.

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