A Kuwait military jet ventured seven kilometers into Iraqi airspace Monday morning. It is not clear whether Iraq scrambled jets in response, but at least one fact was clear: The Iraqi people were not happy to be woken up by the sound of a fighter jet.
“The jet was flying at low altitude” and breached the sound barrier, according to local administrator Taleb Khalil al-Hasawna.
Ultimately residents were left unharmed, but they did feel intimidated, Iraqi News reports.
The local administration demanded Kuwait issue an apology and a vow to avoid repeating the offense.
It is not clear how officials identified that the jet belonged to Kuwait, which maintains approximately two dozen Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets that could be capable of breaking the sound barrier.
While the nuisance clearly did not sit well with the citizens of Iraq, the Kuwaiti and Iraqi governments recently joined forces to conduct military drills together for the first time since 2011. The US Navy also participated in the exercise. All three nations had expressed interest in “cooperatively” addressing threats in the Gulf, according to the US Navy.
