Fact Check: Is the video showing US army evacuating from Kuwait airbase real?
KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT: Amid the conflict in the Middle East, which has escalated following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, a photo began circulating on social media platforms, claiming to show the United States army evacuating from their airbase in Kuwait following the attacks by Iran. Let us analyze and fact-check the viral photo.
Claim: United States Army evacuated from Kuwait
The viral clip shows soldiers seated on the ground as they receive instructions and lining up in multiple queues before boarding buses, in what appears to be an organised evacuation.
Several users shared the video on X and Facebook, writing, “The U.S. Air Base in Kuwait is being evacuated. You can clearly see in these images that they are leaving the Kuwait soil. From today’s video, we can only say that Iran has succeeded in achieving its goal.”
The video garnered millions of views, and many appeared to believe it to be authentic, causing panic
Fact Check: The video is not related to the ongoing conflict
Although the video is authentic, the claim attributed to it is untrue. The video shows the US Army leaving for holidays in December 2024.
A reverse image search for the key frames of the clip revealed that the video was posted on Instagram on December 20, 2024, from the official handle of the 197th Infantry Brigade, also known as the Sledgehammer Brigade, of the US Army.
The caption of the post stated that it shows soldiers and trainees leaving for the holidays.
The Sledgehammer Brigade partnered with the 198th Infantry Brigade to organize and transport all of Sand Hill’s trainees and soldiers from Fort Moore to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.
The same detail was reported by Fox5 on December 19, 2024, according to which 7,000 trainees from the 194th Armored Brigade and the 198th Infantry Brigade were scheduled to pass through the airport as part of the army’s annual Holiday Block Leave.
Also, there is no evidence that the US Army evacuated its bases in Kuwait after Iranian attacks.
Iran attacks Gulf countries with drones and missiles
Countries across the Persian Gulf reported a fresh wave of drone and missile attacks on early Sunday, just hours after heavy overnight bombings inside Iran.
Authorities in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates said air defenses were activated as multiple drones and ballistic missiles targeted civilian and government infrastructure across the region.
The Kuwaiti Army said a 'wave of hostile drones' struck fuel storage facilities at Kuwait International Airport early Sunday local time.
