Eleven US troops injured in Iran missile attack in Iraq: US military

Eleven US troops injured in Iran missile attack in Iraq: US military
January 17, 2020, 10:54 am

Members of the US military. (File photo AFP)

Eleven US troops were treated for concussion symptoms as a result of the Jan. 8 Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi base where US forces were stationed, the US military said on Thursday, after initially saying no service members had been hurt.

“While no US service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attacks on Al Asad Airbase, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,” Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement.

The United States treated 11 of its troops for symptoms of concussion after an Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi base where US forces were stationed, the US military said on Thursday, after initially saying no service members were hurt.

The attack was retaliation for a US drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3 that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

President Donald Trump and the US military had said there were no casualties after the strike on the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a facility in its northern Kurdish region.

“While no US service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attacks on Al Asad airbase, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,” Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement.

As a measure of caution, some service members were taken to US facilities in Germany or Kuwait for “follow-on screening,” he added.

“When deemed fit for duty, the service members are expected to return to Iraq.”

As many as 1,500 Americans were deployed at the vast base deep in Iraq’s Anbar desert.

source: Reuters

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