Kuwait hunts for control tower thieves

Cairo: Kuwaiti police have launched intense investigations to identify thieves of a control tower belonging to the US forces after the facility had disappeared following a recent military exercise, a local newspaper reported.

US army officers had reported the theft of the 13-metre-high tower from their camp in the area of Udari, Al Rai quoted security sources as saying.

The theft was discovered on Tuesday by the US army officers while inspecting their post, the sources added. A criminal case was registered and police were tasked with intensifying search for the perpetrators, they said.

The Gulf 2021 military manoeuvre, in which Kuwaiti, US and Saudi forces participated, started on November 7 and ran until last Thursday.

After the exercise was over, military hardware was moved from the exercise area to the US army camp, when the loss of the control tower was discovered.

The thieves apparently took advantage of absence of surveillance cameras in the place to where the facilities had been moved from the camp ahead of the exercise, according to the sources.

There was no official comment from Kuwaiti authorities on the report.