Fact Check: US Army evacuates Kuwait airbase? No, old video from US goes viral
A video circulating online claims to show the US Army evacuating an airbase in Kuwait after Iranian attacks.
By - Rahul Adhikari
Claim:The video shows the US Army evacuating an airbase in Kuwait after Iranian attacks.
Fact:False. The video shows US soldiers leaving for holidays in Georgia.
Hyderabad: A video circulating on social media claims to show soldiers being evacuated from a United States airbase in Kuwait following Iranian attacks.
According to a report by The Times of Israel dated March 11, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired missiles at the United States base at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. However, Kuwaiti authorities have not yet confirmed the claim.
The viral clip shows soldiers seated on the ground as they receive instructions. They then line up in multiple queues before boarding buses, giving the impression of an organised evacuation.
Several users shared the video on X and Facebook, and wrote, “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. (sic)” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows the Sledgehammer Brigade of the US Army leaving for holidays in December 2024.
Where was the video shot?
A reverse image search on the keyframes of the video revealed that the video was posted on Instagram on December 20, 2024. The video was posted from the official handle of the 197th Infantry Brigade, also known as the Sledgehammer Brigade, of the US Army.
The caption of the video stated that it shows soldiers and trainees leaving for the holidays. The Sledgehammer Brigade partnered with the 198th Infantry Brigade to organise and transport all of Sand Hill’s trainees and soldiers from Fort Moore to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.
We found the same details in a report by Fox5, dated December 19, 2024. More than 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, the report stated.
There is no credible evidence showing that the US Army evacuated its bases in Kuwait after Iranian attacks.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim is false.
