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An American-operated Patriot aerial defence artillery apt fired the interceptor rocket progressive successful a pre-dawn detonation that injured dozens of civilians and tore done homes successful U.S.-ally Bahrain 10 days into the warfare connected Iran, according to an investigation by world researchers examined by Reuters.
Both Bahrain and Washington person blamed an Iranian drone onslaught for the March 9 blast, which the Gulf kingdom said injured 32 radical including children, immoderate seriously.
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Commenting connected the time of the attack, U.S. Central Command said connected X that an Iranian drone struck a residential neighbourhood successful Bahrain. In effect to questions from Reuters, Bahrain connected Saturday (March 21, 2026) acknowledged for the archetypal clip that a Patriot rocket was progressive successful the detonation implicit the Mahazza neighbourhood connected Sitra island, offshore from the superior Manama and besides location to an lipid refinery.
In a statement, a Bahraini authorities spokesperson said the rocket successfully intercepted an Iranian drone mid-air, redeeming lives.
“The harm and injuries sustained were not a effect of a nonstop interaction to the crushed of either the Patriot interceptor oregon the Iranian drone,” the spokesperson said. Neither Bahrain oregon Washington has provided grounds that an Iranian drone was progressive successful the Mahazza incident.
The usage of costly, precocious weaponry to support against attacks by acold cheaper drones has been a defining diagnostic of the war. The incidental points to the risks and limitations of this strategy: The blast from the almighty Patriot, whether oregon not it intercepted a drone, contributed to wide harm and casualties, portion Bahrain’s aerial defences were incapable to forestall strikes that nighttime connected the adjacent lipid refinery, which declared unit majeure hours later.
When asked for comment, the Pentagon referred Reuters to Central Command, which did not instantly reply to questions.
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In effect to questions sent to the White House, a elder U.S. authoritative said the United States was “crushing” Iran’s quality to sprout oregon nutrient drones and missiles.
“We volition proceed to code these threats to our state and our allies,” the authoritative said, adding that the U.S. subject “never targets civilians.”
The authoritative did not reply circumstantial questions astir the Patriot attack. On February 28, the archetypal time of U.S. strikes connected Iran, an Iranian girls schoolhouse took a nonstop hit. Investigators astatine the U.S. Defence Department judge U.S. forces were apt responsible, Reuters archetypal reported, perchance due to the fact that of outdated targeting data, 2 U.S. sources antecedently told the quality agency.
Video of the aftermath of the Mahazza blast successful Bahrain verified by Reuters shows rubble astir houses, a heavy furniture of particulate successful the streets, an injured antheral and screaming residents. Both Bahrain and the United States run U.S. Patriot aerial defence batteries successful the kingdom, a adjacent U.S. state located connected the Persian Gulf that hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet on with the determination U.S. naval command.
On the nighttime of the detonation successful Mahazza, the refinery connected Sitra came nether Iranian attack, according to Bahraini nationalist lipid institution Bapco. Videos amusement fume rising from the installation connected the greeting of March 9. Reuters could not found whether the origin of the detonation during a nighttime of Iranian attacks connected Sitra would person been instantly apparent to U.S. and Bahraini forces.
Bahrain successful its connection did not accidental wherefore it had not mentioned the engagement of a Patriot astatine the time. Iran’s ngo to the United Nations did not instantly respond to a petition for remark astir the incident.
Produced by Raytheon, portion of RTX Corp., the Patriot is the U.S. Army’s superior high-to-medium-range aircraft-and-missile interceptor strategy and forms the backbone of U.S. and allied aerial defences.
Raytheon didn’t respond to a petition for remark astir the incident. Bahrain’s authorities declined to accidental whether the rocket that detonated connected March 9, was fired by its ain forces oregon by the United States. But probe associates Sam Lair and Michael Duitsman and Professor Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies astatine Monterey concluded with moderate-to-high assurance that the fishy rocket was apt launched from a U.S. Patriot artillery located astir 7 km (4 miles) to the southwest of the Mahazza neighbourhood.
The conclusions of the 3 American munitions and open-source quality researchers, reported present for the archetypal time, were based connected their reappraisal of open-source visuals and commercialized outer imagery.
Reuters showed the Middlebury investigation to 2 target-analysis experts and 1 Patriot strategy rocket researcher, who recovered nary crushed to quality its conclusion. One of them, Wes Bryant, a erstwhile elder targeting advisor and argumentation expert astatine the Pentagon, said Lair, Duitsman and Lewis’s conclusions were “pretty undeniable.”
A tiny Gulf state, Bahrain plays a captious relation successful the information of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that carries astir a 5th of the world’s lipid and liquefied earthy state and has been astir wholly closed by Iran, causing unprecedented disruption to satellite lipid supplies.
Key to the Middlebury investigation was a video changeable from an flat gathering and shared connected societal media. The video shows the fishy Patriot roaring crossed the nighttime entity astatine debased altitude connected a northeastern trajectory. It past angled downward and retired of sight. A flash of airy successful the region appeared to people its detonation 1.3 seconds later. Hany Farid, a prof astatine the University of California astatine Berkeley specializing successful integer forensics, reviewed the video for Reuters to find if it was generated by artificial intelligence. He recovered “no evident grounds that the video is fake.” Lair, Duitsman and Lewis geolocated the video to a neighbourhood successful Riffa, Bahrain’s second-largest city.
Reuters confirmed the geolocation. The earliest station of the video Reuters could find online was astatine astir 2 a.m. section clip connected March 9.
“The Riffa site’s determination and predisposition are consistent with the trajectory” of that of the fishy Patriot, the investigation said. Multiple videos posted to societal media the greeting of March 9 amusement harm to residences successful Block 602 of the Mahazza neighbourhood.
The researchers archetypal geolocated the visuals utilizing landmarks that appeared to lucifer commercialized outer imagery of the country and disposable thoroughfare addresses. Reuters independently verified the geolocation. The researchers past traced the trajectory of the fishy rocket from Block 602 consecutive backmost to what they assessed — based connected commercialized outer imagery — was the U.S. Patriot artillery based little than fractional a mile from wherever the video of the rocket successful formation was recorded successful Riffa.
A artillery consists of a radar unit, a bid hub and up to 8 launchers that are integrated to detect, way and intercept craft and missiles. Using commercialized outer imagery, the researchers determined that 5 launchers were disposable astatine the Riffa tract 2 days earlier the March 9 incident. The artillery has been determination since astatine slightest 2009, according to outer imagery.
The Bahraini Defence Force did not commencement operating its ain Patriot systems until 2024, according to a Lockheed Martin property release. The Riffa tract has features that are some distinctive to U.S. Patriot batteries successful the portion and antithetic from those of known Bahrain-operated batteries, the researchers said, including protective walls, unpaved roads and a deficiency of imperishable buildings. Based connected these elements, the researchers concluded that the artillery is apt operated by the United States, which uses Patriots to support its naval sites successful Bahrain.
The researchers were incapable to accidental with assurance what caused the Patriot to explode. But they added that based connected the disposable evidence, including the signifier and dispersed of harm connected the ground, it appeared to person detonated mid-flight.
They concluded that it was imaginable the Patriot was aimed astatine a low-flying drone and that the combined detonation of the rocket and drone ignited the blast, the investigation said.
“If this was the case, this was an irresponsible intercept effort arsenic it endangered the lives and the homes of allied civilians successful a residential area,” the investigation said. This script matches what Bahrain’s authorities spokesperson said happened: that the Patriot intercepted an Iranian drone and some detonated successful the air.
However, the investigation said, the absorption of the harm and the deficiency of disposable grounds of a drone implicit the vicinity suggested different scenario, that “the detonation was the effect of the detonation of the warhead and unexpended propellant of a Patriot interceptor.”
Despite the assertion by Bahrain, the researchers said it was little apt the rocket made interaction with a drone.
Reuters could not independently verify the beingness oregon not of an Iranian drone during the incident. The investigation said that videos taken aft the onslaught and photographs released by Bahraini authorities amusement that the blast harm was concentrated on 4 streets of Mahazza.
A Bahrain tv quality broadcast connected March 9 and a authorities property merchandise showed an extensively damaged location astir 120m from the centre of the main blast area, with interior photos showing holes successful a partition created by shrapnel, the investigation said.
Robert Maher, an audio specializer who reviewed the video astatine the petition of Reuters, said his investigation supports the approximate determination of the detonation implicit the damaged homes. In the video, a flash is seen astir 8 seconds in, but an detonation is ne'er heard before the clip ends 19 seconds later. That’s due to the fact that airy travels faster than sound. Based connected however agelong the dependable would instrumentality to scope the idiosyncratic who changeable the video, the detonation had to beryllium much than 4 miles away.
The damaged homes were astir 7.4 km (4.6 miles) away, which fits with the timing. When each the harm is considered together, the Middlebury investigation noted, it matches what 1 would expect if a Patriot rocket exploded successful the aerial implicit a roadworthy intersection successful the neighbourhood.
Pieces of the rocket past flew about 120 meters farther and deed different house, the investigation said. Maher said that successful the audio from the video helium heard nary drones oregon different missiles, though their sounds would person been faint oregon inaudible if they were much than 4 miles distant from wherever the video was taken.
“I don’t spot thing that is inconsistent with my observations from the audio,” Maher said aft reviewing the Middlebury analysis.
Defence and manufacture officials accidental Patriot misfires are rare, but they bash happen, including an errant rocket successful 2007 that deed a workplace successful Qatar. In an X station connected March 9, U.S. Central Command denounced Iranian and Russian quality reports that said the incidental successful Mahazza was the effect of a failed Patriot, calling it a “LIE.”
It said an Iranian drone struck a residential neighbourhood. Reuters and the Middlebury researchers were incapable to get oregon reappraisal immoderate ocular grounds of rocket oregon drone fragments.
Reuters attempted to interaction witnesses successful Bahrain, but respective radical declined to speak, citing fearfulness of reprisals. Human Rights Watch has documented arrests of radical successful Bahrain during the warfare for posting videos connected societal media of attacks.
In the video of the fishy rocket successful flight, the Patriot appears to walk a overmuch steeper fume way that the researchers said apt belonged to a archetypal interceptor fired moments earlier.
Patriots are often fired successful pairs to summation the chances that 1 hits the target. Neither the researchers oregon Reuters could found what happened to the archetypal missile. The debased trajectory of the 2nd rocket and its deviation from the way of the earlier launch could beryllium signs of a imaginable problem, the researchers said. But they could not regularisation retired the anticipation that it was changeable successful that absorption connected purpose. Bahrain’s spokesperson said immoderate proposition of malfunction oregon misfiring of the Patriots successful Bahrain “was factually incorrect.”
