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Friday, June 20, 2025
US military aircraft no longer visible at base in Qatar, satellite images show
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleDozens of US military aircraft are no longer on the tarmac at a major US base in Qatar, satellite images show — a possible move to shield them from eventual Iranian air strikes, as Washington weighs whether to intervene in Tehran’s conflict with Israel.
Between June 5 and 19, nearly all of the aircraft visible at the Al Udeid base are no longer anywhere in plain sight, according to images published by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by AFP.
Nearly 40 military aircraft — including transport planes like the Hercules C-130 and reconnaissance aircraft — were parked on the tarmac on June 5. In an image taken on June 19, only three aircraft are visible.
The US embassy in Qatar announced Thursday that access to the base would be limited “out of an abundance of caution and in light of ongoing regional hostilities,” and urged personnel to “exercise increased vigilance.”
The White House says US President Donald Trump will decide sometime in the next two weeks whether to join ally Israel’s strikes on Iran. The Islamic Republic could then respond by striking US bases in the region.
US Warplanes Quietly Pulled from Qatar Airbase
Satellite images analyzed by the Associated Press show an unusually empty runway at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, suggesting the U.S. military has redeployed many aircraft. The move follows similar naval dispersals in Bahrain, seen as… pic.twitter.com/TVqqdcGnei
— Ahmad Algohbary (@AhmadAlgohbary) June 19, 2025
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