KUWAIT CITY, 9 November 2002 — A US soldier training in the Kuwaiti desert has died from a gunshot wound, apparently caused by an accident, a spokesman at Camp Doha, home to most US troops in Kuwait, said yesterday.
“It occurred yesterday (Thursday) and was reported to us at 7.40 p.m. (1640 GMT),” the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
The soldier was in the Second Brigade Combat Team and the incident occurred on one of the training bases in the Kabal area in the north, the spokesman said.
“The incident is still under investigation. Apparently it was an accident,” he said, adding that no more details could be released until investigations were concluded. The official KUNA news agency reported the US soldier “set off his weapon while cleaning it.”
Camp Doha is some 30 kilometers north of Kuwait City.
Some 10,000 US soldiers are based in Kuwait. Many are currently engaged in the ongoing Operation Desert Spring military exercises with the Kuwaiti Army.
Washington has maintained a military presence in Kuwait since the 1991 Gulf War which ended a seven-month Iraqi occupation. It also has heavy military hardware stored in the state which has been unnerved by a sudden rise in incidents involving US troops in Kuwait this month.
The most serious occurred on Oct. 8 when two Kuwaitis attacked Marines engaged in training exercises, killing one of them. The Kuwaitis were killed in the shootout on Failaka Island. (AFP/R)
