The aircraft was inside the base, in a decentralized area, when it was hit. At the moment, no official information has been released about the extent of the damage suffered by the aircraft.

Crosetto clarified that no other damage to vehicles or infrastructure used by Italian personnel at the base has been reported.

«Last night I personally followed, with the utmost attention and in contact with the Chief of the Defense General Staff, General Luciano Portolano, the evolution of the situation in Saudi Arabia, and in particular at the Ta'if air base, which has been subject to several attacks and where Italian personnel engaged in operation Inherent Resolve are present», the minister stated.

Crosetto then confirmed that no Italian military personnel were involved in the attack, adding that the F-2000 aircraft was located in a decentralized area of the installation.

Italian personnel engaged in operation Inherent Resolve

The Ta'if base hosts Italian personnel involved in the operation Inherent Resolve, the international coalition established in 2014 to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The Italian presence is part of the national military deployment in the area within the activities of the international coalition.

Following the attack, the Minister of Defense asked the Chief of the Defense General Staff, General Luciano Portolano, the Commander of the Joint Operational Command, General Giovanni Maria Iannucci, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Antonio Conserva, for a new assessment of the evolution of the operational situation and the security conditions of Italian personnel.

According to what Crosetto reported, security measures had already been put in place in the preceding weeks to protect the military personnel at the base.

The minister also convened a meeting at the Ministry of Defense to receive further updates and assess possible operational options.

An increasingly delicate regional situation

The attack on the Ta'if base occurs in a context of growing instability in the Middle Eastern region and in the Red Sea area.

In recent weeks, the security of military installations and maritime routes in the region has returned to the center of attention, particularly along the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

Just in recent hours, Minister Crosetto had also addressed the issue of the safety of Italian commercial navigation in the area, envisioning the use of Naval units to contribute to the protection of traffic.

With regard to the Ta'if attack, the dynamics, the type of weapon used, and the extent of the damage reported by the Italian Eurofighter still need to be clarified.

At the moment, the confirmed fact is that no Italian military personnel were involved and that no other damage to infrastructure or vehicles used by the contingent has been reported.