Al Minhad air base: Richard Marles confirms drone attack on Aussie military base in Middle East

The Defence Minister has confirmed an airfield used by Australian troops in the Middle East was hit by drone attacks over the weekend, but has again stressed that all personnel in the region are safe and accounted for.

One day after The Nightly first revealed the Al Minhad facility outside Dubai had suffered “multiple impacts” during Iranian retaliation strikes, Richard Marles has been pressed about details of the incident, which the government had not yet publicly acknowledged.

When asked on Tuesday about The Nightly’s report on Australians escaping injury in the attack, Mr Marles told Sunrise host Natalie Barr the details were correct.

”Yes, I can confirm both of those things. And so there was some drones which did attack that base on the first night, I think,” the Defence Minister said.

“We have a number of Australians who operate from a headquarters that we’ve had at Al Minhad now for many, many years. It’s just outside of Dubai, about half an hour outside of Dubai. They are all accounted for, they are all safe.”

“We’ve got north of 100 serving personnel actually across the Middle East in a range of countries, but most are in the UAE and that base is very important for us. But they are all safe and accounted for.”

One military figure, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Nightly this week that the vast AMAB facility received “multiple impacts” from suspected ballistic weapons, but added there were “no injuries” recorded.

Numerous eye witnesses have also reported hearing large explosions in the vicinity of Al Minhad, including in Dubai’s nearby residential district of Damac Hills 2.

In Parliament on Monday Mr Marles discussed Australia’s military presence at the Al Minhad facility but chose not to disclose the attack which had occurred on Saturday, Canberra time.

In 2020 a rocket attack hit the Taji Military Camp in Iraq where hundreds of Australian personnel were serving alongside New Zealand troops, but again there were no injuries recorded.

According to the Defence Department, HQME at Al Minhad has supported ADF missions and contingencies since 2003, operating under various names before becoming Operation Accordion in 2014.

Since the 2021 withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan, Australia has maintained a smaller force at AMAB of 50 core ADF personnel and a total of 70 to 80 staff, which is focused on “strategic access and regional crisis response”.

“HQME enables logistics, communications and support for up to 12 current operations, while providing a scaleable hub from Al Minhad Air Base,” the Defence Department says on its website.

“These include both Australian-led missions and multinational or UN-supported efforts. The base remains Australia’s only forward-deployed headquarters and maintains strategic relationships within the region, particularly with the UAE.”

Although the Albanese government has declared it will not take part in any military operations against Iran the “scalable” presence at Al Minhad could eventually be used as a staging point for possible defence evacuation flights from the Middle East.