Five US tankers damaged at Prince Sultan Air Base

RIYADH: Five US Air Force tankers were damaged in an Iranian missile attack on a key military base in Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The attack comes amid a recent spate of missiles fired by Iran at US military installations in the region.

The planes were at Prince Sultan Air Base, a major military installation in Saudi Arabia that hosts US forces. The planes were on the ground when the Iranian missile attack hit them, and were damaged.

The plane was a Boeing C-135 Stratotanker, which is used to extend the range and duration of fighter jets and bombers, the newspaper reported.

The planes were damaged in the missile attack, but were not completely destroyed and are currently being repaired. No casualties were reported in the attack.

Prince Sultan Air Base is located 70 kilometers southeast of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The incident is also being described as a series of recent problems facing the US Air Force in the region. Earlier, two KC-135 aircraft collided during an operation, resulting in one of the aircraft crashing.

The US Department of Defense Pentagon confirmed that all six personnel on board the crashed aircraft were killed in the accident.

After the latest incident, the number of US tanker aircraft damaged or destroyed in recent days has reached at least seven.

Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and the US are rapidly increasing. This situation arose when the US-led military operations were carried out against Iranian installations and Iranian-allied groups in the Middle East.

After these operations, Iranian forces launched retaliatory attacks on US bases and assets deployed in the region.

Security officials say the growing series of attacks and counterattacks has raised fears of a wider war in the region, putting military installations in Gulf countries on high alert.