A third American service member died on Saturday during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone’s ordnance, U.S. Central Command announced Sunday.
U.S. troops were carrying out a controlled detonation of the unexploded ordnance on a downed Iranian attack drone in northern Iraq. CENTCOM did not elaborate on what went wrong, but in the process one American was killed while another suffered minor injuries. The military did not identify the deceased, citing policies to withhold the name until family is notified.
The fatal incident comes a day after two U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian drone and missile attack on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan in Jordan. As of Sunday afternoon, the Department of Defense has not identified the two troops killed on July 17. Iran targeted several bases used by the United States military across the Middle East, including in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
A third service member was declared missing in action on Saturday. In its release, CENTCOM said unidentified remains had been located at the base earlier on Sunday and an examination process is underway to identify the body. Four others were
The U.S. death toll from the war with Iran is now at 17, with more than 400 troops injured.
U.S. forces are largely concentrated in Iraqi Kurdistan in the country’s north, after leaving bases in the Anbar Province and the Baghdad area. Iran fired several drones at U.S. forces in Kurdistan in the first two weeks of the war. A full withdrawal of American troops is expected to be completed by the end of September.
This is a developing story.
