Aussie troop base hit in Iran drone strikes
A defence base in the UAE that’s home to Australian defence force members has been hit by Iranian drone strikes, as thousands of travellers remain stranded.
Source: Sunrise
Australian personnel at a United Arab Emirates air base are all accounted for after it was hit by a drone strike as the war in the Middle East escalates.
Iran has retaliated with attacks across the region after it was hit by US-Israeli bombardments that have killed the Islamic regime’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dozens of senior officials.
Among the areas hit over the weekend by Iran were the Al Minhad air base, near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and a logistics hub for the Australian Defence Force.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said all Australian troops were safe and none were injured in the strike.
“We have a number of Australians who operate from a headquarters that we’ve had at Al Minhad now for many, many years,” he told Seven’s Sunrise program on Tuesday.
“They are all accounted for, they are all safe. We’ve got north of 100 serving personnel actually across the Middle East in a range of countries, but most are in the UAE and that base is very important for us.”
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Marles says all Australian troops are safe after the strike at the Al Minhad air base near Dubai. Photo: ADF
Contingency plans are being considered to bring home tens of thousands of Australian citizens stranded in the Middle East as the US-Israel war on Iran widens.
Marles described the situation as a “very significant consular challenge”.
“There’s lots of Australians who are experiencing disrupted air travel and so that’s a situation that we are monitoring very closely and preparing for as best we can,” he told ABC TV.
“You have to take this a day at a time … it is very difficult to speculate about how long this will go.”
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Australian travellers, such as Lucy Finter, are struggling to find ways out of the war-torn region. She left Sydney for London on Saturday and was “completely oblivious” of the growing war until she landed in Dubai for a stopover.
All flights were suddenly cancelled when she arrived at Dubai International Airport, which erupted into chaos and was damaged after being hit by strikes.
“No one knew what was going on, then we checked the news online and saw missiles had been fired and the airspace had been closed,” Finter said.
She and her British partner filled out repatriation forms from the UK and Australian governments, but had heard nothing further by Monday.
“I’m trying to remain calm, but then I hear another missile,” she said.
Finter said she burst into tears when she read US President Donald Trump’s remarks that the war would take “four weeks or so”.
But that timeframe depended on variables outside of Trump’s control and he had a “tendency to describe things in very optimistic terms”, University of Sydney expert David Smith said.
It was unlikely Trump expected Australia to become involved in the conflict as he wanted “a limited military action”, Smith said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there had been no requests for Australia to become involved.
“It’s a long way from Australia and we are not big players in the Middle East,” he told ABC’s 7.30 program.
He and other senior government ministers have supported the US-Israeli action while deflecting questions over the legality of the strikes.
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