An attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on Friday injured 12 American troops, according to reports from officials of both governments.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the service members who were injured were inside a building at the critical air base when the attack occurred.
Two of the troops had significant injuries, the outlet reported, while 10 others were concussed.
The building, reports said, was struck by a missile. It’s unclear how many missiles were involved in the attack, but there were also several unmanned drones involved.
Several U.S. refueling aircraft on the ground were reportedly damaged as well.
Satellite imagery published on social media indicated that at least one KC-135 Stratotanker was destroyed in the fusillade.
Satellite imagery appears to confirm a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker has been destroyed and several others possibly damaged, as a result of an Iranian attack earlier today, utilizing ballistic missiles and drones, against Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Image… pic.twitter.com/o7x32UjUOb
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 27, 2026
The condition of the two seriously injured soldiers, or whether they are alive, is unclear as of Saturday morning.
The attack came just hours before Israel reported the first missile attack launched from Yemen, according to The Guardian.
Iran funds and helps arm the insurgent groups that have taken over large swaths of Yemen and which have disrupted shipping in the Middle East over the past few years.
A statement from the Israeli military said that they had “identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory, aerial defense systems are operating to intercept the threat.”
Over 300 American service members have been wounded since Operation Epic Fury began earlier this month, with 13 killed.
One died after being wounded in an earlier attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, according to CBS News.
Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, died March 8 of wounds received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks on U.S. troops at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, on March 1. pic.twitter.com/CRLUgQbL69
— Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) March 9, 2026
Located just 60 miles from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Prince Sultan Air Base first came to prominence as an important operational base during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
After that, it served critical roles in both Operation Southern Watch — the name given to the operation which enforced the no-fly zone imposed on Saddam Hussein’s forces after the first Gulf War — and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
While U.S. presence at Prince Sultan largely wound down by 2003, the U.S. Air Force began reestablishing a presence there starting in 2019 amid rising tensions with Iran. It’s primarily used by the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing.
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