KUWAIT CITY, 28 October— Sirens wailed across Kuwait yesterday and schools held evacuation drills as part of preparations for any Iraqi retaliation against the emirate should a US-led war be launched against Baghdad.
As the first siren sounded, students in 751 schools were evacuated, guided by teachers and other staff to so-called "safe havens" in the schools.
In one government school outside Kuwait City, hundreds of students filed out of their classrooms through the building and on to the football pitch in less than two minutes, school officials said.
They returned to their classrooms once the sirens alerted them to the end of any danger. The drill was also useful practice in the event of a fire, flooding or a bomb scare, officials said.
The nationwide exercise was organized by the civil defense, primarily for government schools.
"It was excellent," said Lubna Al-Ghoul, the security supervisor of the private American Creativity Academic School.
"It took around four minutes to get the 908 students, with nearly 200 staff and workers, to a safe haven, either in the gym or library," she said.
The school had carried out similar drills this year, Ghoul said, adding that the students remained calm and were now familiar with the evacuation procedures. (AFP)
"It went really well," said Adeeb Shuhaiber, manager of the Fahaheel English School, which accommodates 700 students.
"We hold one regularly anyway ... but today’s was with the sirens," he said.
Fears of a possible US-led war on Iraq and its fallout in the region have prompted the Kuwaiti government to start implementing a series of contingency plans, organized mainly by the civil defense.
Last Monday, US, Kuwaiti, German and Czech forces conducted a mock drill in nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) warfare.
The exercise was the first grouping units of all four countries under the Cooperation Defense Initiative (CDI) program, sponsored by US Central Command.
Kuwaitis, still unperturbed by the threat of a US-led war on Iraq, say they would be most concerned about possible chemical or biological attacks.
Gas masks have been on sale for months in some outlets, though few people seem to be purchasing them.
The Defense Ministry recently said it was ordering thousands of masks for the families of military personnel.
NBC protective tents are also selling at $13,000 apiece.
Schools, hospitals and government institutions are being briefed on emergency plans in the event of any Iraqi retaliatory attack.
Parliament holds a special session Wednesday to discuss the country’s state of readiness to deal with the consequences of any US-led strike on Iraq.
Around 10,000 US troops are currently based in Kuwait, mostly at Camp Doha, where the US Army stockpiles heavy equipment, including tanks and artillery.
German and Czech NBC special units have been in the emirate since early this year.
