An Italian fighter jet was damaged during an attack on a Saudi Arabian air base, the country’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, has said. According to a report by the Italian news agency ANSA on Friday, Crosetto is closely monitoring the situation at Saudi Arabia’s Taif air base, where Italian military personnel are stationed as part of “Operation Inherent Resolve.” The base has recently been the target of multiple attacks.
Crosetto confirmed that no Italian soldiers were involved in the attack. He said an Italian F-2000 fighter jet, located in a remote part of the base at the time, was struck and damaged, but that no other vehicles or infrastructure used by Italian military personnel were damaged.
Crosetto said that after assessing the situation, he had asked to be briefed in detail on the status of Italian military personnel at the base and on possible next steps. He added that he had been assured all necessary measures to ensure the safety of military personnel had already been put in place some time ago. “The situation is being monitored with the utmost priority, to ensure the full safety of our military personnel and to carry out operations with the necessary responsibility,” Italy’s defence minister said.
Amid rising regional tensions, Saudi Arabia has faced a series of missile and drone attacks in recent days, which have been blamed on the Houthis. Meanwhile, fighting between Yemen’s government forces and the Houthis has intensified since early July, ending the relative calm that had held between the two sides since a UN-mediated ceasefire took effect in April 2022.