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News > Iraq

11 US Troops Were Wounded in Iran Missile Attack in Iraq

  • U.S. soldiers are seen at the site where an Iranian missile hit at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq.

    U.S. soldiers are seen at the site where an Iranian missile hit at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq. | Photo: Reuters

Published 17 January 2020
Opinion

Despite initially saying no service members were hurt, Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command confirmed it Thursday.

The United States Army confirmed Thursday that it treated 11 of its troops for symptoms of concussion after Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack targeted Ain al-Assad and Erbil airbases where U.S. forces were stationed.

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Despite initially saying no service members were hurt, Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement “while no US service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attacks on the al-Asad airbase, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed.”

The Pentagon said on Friday there had been no effort to play down or delay the release of information on injured personnel.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched a surface-to-surface ballistic missile attack on the Iraqi Ain al-Assad and Erbil airbases as a response to the U.S. killing of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3 

After the strikes, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif explained that these were "proportionate and concluded measures in self-defense under Article 51 of U.N. Charter," adding that the country "does not seek escalation nor war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression."

Zarif also confirmed that his country notified Iraqi authorities of the attack on U.S. bases, resulting in no casualties on the Iraqi side.

"Iran has notified the Iraqi Government and the armed forces of the measures taken last night," the Foreign Minister statement said.

At the time of the attack, most of the 1,500 US soldiers at the base had bunkered down, after Iran had warned Iraqi officials, according to Iraq’s prime minister. 

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