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16-03-2026
MANAMA: Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon jets have been in action over Bahrain as part of the UK’s defensive operations in the Middle East, media has been told.
Two jets out of the four sent to Qatar have been allocated specifically to help Bahrain intercept incoming drones, as the US-Israel war with Iran has entered its second week.
It comes as Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper landed in Saudi Arabia on Thursday amid continued concern about Iranian threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for commercial shipping.
Bahraini officials said a total of 190 incoming drones and 114 missiles have been intercepted, primarily by its own air defences, since the conflict began.
They added that they still have an urgent need for Short Range Air Defence to counter drones.
The country’s airport fuel storage tanks were badly hit by an Iranian drone earlier this week. Bahrain has reported the highest number of casualties of any Gulf nation from a single strike since the conflict began when 23 civilians were reported injured, including four children, on 9 March.
Defence Secretary John Healey said on Thursday that the UK had clocked up more than 300 pilot flying hours over the previous 13 days.
Brigadier Guy Foden, a senior British Army officer, added that the UK had flown air combat patrols over Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to a “number of sorties” over Qatar.
RAF jets, alongside European allies, have also continued to fly in defence of Cyprus, after an Iranian-made drone struck the runway at the RAF Akrotiri base on 1 March.
British warship HMS Dragon departed the UK for the eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday, its primary role will be to protect the base.
Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer allowed the US to use UK bases for the purposes of “defensive” action against Iranian missile sites. The RAF has not taken part in the action itself.
It came after Sir Keir initially refused to allow the US to use UK bases for its joint offensive with Israel, causing a disagreement with President Donald Trump.
Sir Keir has repeatedly said the UK will not join offensive operations in the Middle East, saying at the start of the conflict that he “does not believe in regime change from the skies”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called on the government to authorize the RAF to strike Iran’s missile sites.
She said last week that the UK was in the Middle East war “whether we like it or not”.
The government has also faced criticism over its deployment of assets to the region since the war broke out, including that of HMS Dragon.
Badenoch has said the Type 45 destroyer, which will be the UK’s first and only warship in the region when it arrives, should have been deployed sooner.
She accused the government of “dithering”, pointing out that European allies including Greece and France had sent ships to Cyprus earlier.
Sir Keir has denied that the UK was not prepared for the conflict, explaining that assets had been pre-deployed to the region for a number of weeks beforehand.
Last Wednesday, the death of a flying instructor from RAF Valley while paragliding was an accident, an inquest has concluded.
Flt Lt Geoffrey Robert Corser, 46, was off duty and attempting to fly through an old quarry near Llanberis, Gwynedd, manoeuvring between rocks close to the ground but witnesses on 23 August 2025 saw his paraglider swaying from side to side and said he did not appear to be in full control, the inquest heard at Caernarfon Coroner’s Court. (Int’l News Desk)
