Kuwait state news agency hacked, publishes false report on US troop withdrawal

The Kuwait News Agency’s (KUNA) official Twitter page was hacked on Wednesday, and a report alleging that US troops were withdrawing from Camp Arifjan in Kuwait is false, KUNA said.

In a recently deleted tweet, the agency said that Kuwait’s defense minister had announced that he received an official letter from the commander-in-chief of Camp Arifjan in Kuwait declaring the imminent withdrawal of all US military forces in three days.

KUNA then published a report saying that Kuwait Defense Minister Ahmed Mansoor al-Ahmad al-Sabah said that receiving such letter from Camp Arifjan was unexpected.

“We are communicating with US Department of Defense for more details and information,” the agency had quoted Kuwait’s defense minister as saying.

There are an estimated 13,000 US troops stationed in Kuwait.

The false report comes after Iraq’s parliament asked US troops to leave the country following the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said they would not be leaving the country after a letter leaked saying that the US military was preparing its “movement out of Iraq.”

Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Kuwait said in a statement the US is committed to the security of Middle East ally Kuwait, following Iranian missile attacks on US-led forces in neighboring Iraq.

“That has not changed and will not change. The US Embassy in Kuwait continues to operate normally,” the embassy said.

The statement gave no mention of the earlier false reports about the US withdrawing troops from Kuwait.

US Military presence in the Middle East Infographic