The US air base in Qatar, which became the target of Iranian missiles on Monday, is larger American base in the Middle East, and serves as the US Central Administration Headquarters. About 10,000 troops are there, and they also serve a British staff.

The complex is strongly fortified by a series of airplanes. The US Army uses Al Unded after the September 11 attacks, when he developed air forces there to hit the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Two years later, Al Unded became the main US airplane junction in the region.

US commanders used the basis to coordinate a wide range of missions during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as attacks on the Islamic State in Syria. The US Air Force has developed many types of military aircraft, from advanced fighters and large -scale bombers to unmanned aircraft, transport planes and aircraft aircraft.

It also became the central evacuation point for tens of thousands of Afghans and Americans who left Afghanistan in 2021, when the US military retired.

The Center for Combined Airlines on the base helps US project Air power in a huge area including 21 countriesfrom Northeast Africa to Central and South Asia, according to Air Force.

Qatar, which considered the United States to state as its main patron in the Middle East, completed the construction of the base in 1996, hoping to encourage the development of the US Army there. Over the years, Qatar has spent at least $ 8 billion on the development of the base, which its army also uses alongside the British Royal Air Force as part of its efforts to enhance its cooperation with the United States.

The modernization and expansion of the base have allowed a number of basic US military administrations to operate from it. Together with the US Central Administration, the base also hosts administrative facilities for US Special Forces.

The location of the base was well kept Military secret by 2013, So Chuck Hangel, then Minister of Defense, lifted the veil of secrecy.

President Trump visited Al Unded last month, during his four -day tour of the Gulf countries.