Cairo: Workers on a construction project in a Kuwaiti area found by accident an unused rocket dating back to Saddam Hussein’s 1990 incursion into the country.
The two-metre-long rocket was found hidden in Al Metlaa desert area in Al Jahra governorate in western Kuwait.
The Kuwaiti army was notified of the find. A military explosives engineering team was dispatched to the site, which was evacuated for safety.
Inspection showed that the rocket was among remnants of the Iraqi invasion forces and was probably stored there for use by the invaders, according to a Kuwaiti security source.
The area was combed to ensure there were no other rockets or explosives.
In recent years, Kuwaiti media has reported the discovery of explosive devices left behind by the invaders.
Last November, Kuwaiti authorities defused explosives dating back to the incursion time after they had been found buried on a beach.
At the time, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry defused a large number of projectiles and cluster bombs that cleaning workers of a project on the Salmiya Beach had stumbled upon while doing their job, according to media reports.
The ministry’s explosives department was notified. After inspection, the explosives personnel found out that the unexploded ordnance had been left behind from the invasion era. They were later defused by a robot.
Kuwait annually marks February 26 as Liberation Day celebrating the dislodging of Saddam’s troops in 1991 after a US-led military multinational campaign ended the August 1990 invasion.
