US Airman evading $60,000 Iranian bounty on his head hid in mountains until rescuers arrived
A wounded US Airman bravely hid in ‘treacherous’ mountains for 36 hours to evade Iranian forces before being rescued by Navy SEAL commandos.
The stranded colonel, armed with only a pistol for protection, was injured after being ejected from an F-15 fighter jet that was shot down in southern Iran on Friday.
Trapped deep ‘behind enemy lines’ and still able to walk, he at one point climbed a 7000ft hill as US planes dropped bombs and opened fire to keep the Iranian convoy at bay.
As enemy forces closed in with every passing minute, the US military carried out a daring night rescue operation this morning that Donald Trump hailed as ‘miraculous’.
‘WE GOT HIM!’ The US President declared this in a post on the Truth Social platform.
Trump said the police officer was “injured but will recover.”
Tehran has placed a £50,000 bounty on the weapons systems officer’s head and is in a race with the US to find the missing airman.
The pilot of the jet was rescued within 45 minutes of the plane crashing into difficult mountainous terrain.
The pilot was rescued within 45 minutes of the plane crashing into dangerous mountainous terrain in southern Iran. Image: Ejection seat of the crashed fighter jet
US officials feared the missing crew could be used as humanitarian bargaining chips. Picture: Armed Iranian tribes search for missing US airman
A source close to the president told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Everything is being done to find the missing airman.
‘We have special forces in the region and the entire strength of the US military is in this hunt.
‘There are fears that he will be caught and used as a pawn. We must find him and bring him home before the Iranians do.’
An Israeli security official explained today how Israel provided intelligence to the United States and helped stop Iranian attacks during the rescue operation.
Two of the planes that were supposed to transport the airman and his rescuers to safety were stranded at a remote Iranian base and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands. New York Times and CBS reported.
US forces then used three more transport planes to transport the airman and his rescuers out of Iran.
Trump said the airman was ‘never truly alone’ as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his ‘fellow Warfighters’ monitored his location ’24 hours a day’.
‘Under my instructions, the US Army sent dozens of aircraft armed with the most lethal weapons in the world to retake it,’ he said.
The airman’s extraction followed a U.S. search and rescue operation following the crash of an F-15E Strike Eagle on Friday; Iran also promised a reward to anyone who surrendered the ‘enemy pilot’.
Iranian state media published images of search and rescue planes it claimed to have shot down, but the US military said the planes themselves were ‘blown up’
“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, hunted by our enemies who were getting closer with every hour,” Trump said.
Today, Iranian state television broadcast a video of what it claimed were parts of an American plane shot down by Iranian forces and a photo showing thick, black smoke rising into the air.
The broadcaster said Iran shot down an American transport plane and two helicopters as part of the rescue operation.
But a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission told The Associated Press that the U.S. military blew up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction and had to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the undercover mission.
Iran’s military said on Sunday that a US operation to rescue the airman used an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province.
“The US military rescue operation, planned as a deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan under the pretext of rescuing the pilot of a crashed plane, was completely thwarted,” said Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the Iranian army’s central command.
Zolfaghari also said that two US ‘C-130 military transport aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed’.
The CIA reportedly launched a deception campaign within Iran to spread the news that US forces had taken the airman out of the country on the ground.
Iranian leaders encouraged people to go to the region to capture the American but warned: ‘Don’t mistreat him.’ Image: Wreckage of the downed plane posted online by Tehran, left, and the logo normally found on the tail of such planes, right
A US Black Hawk helicopter participating in the search for the missing crew was hit by ground fire but landed safely. Image: Iranian police appear to be shooting at US rescuers
In his post, Trump also confirmed that “another brave Pilot was successfully rescued yesterday” and added that this was not disclosed so as not to jeopardize the second rescue mission.
‘WE WILL NOT LEAVE ANY AMERICAN WARRIOR BEHIND!’ wrote.
‘The fact that we were able to conduct both of these operations without a single American being killed or even injured proves once again that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority in the skies over Iran.
‘This is a moment that ALL Americans, Republicans, Democrats and everyone else should be proud of and unite around. We truly have the best, most professional and lethal Army in World History. GOD BLESS AMERICA, BLESS OUR UNIONS AND HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE!’
