Sixth American service member killed in Iran operation | US-Israel war on Iran
Six US soldiers were killed in US military operations against Iran, US Central Command said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
The announcement came a day after the military confirmed the deaths of three US soldiers on Sunday; It was the first known U.S. deaths since attacks against Iran began on Saturday and came just hours after Central Command reported a fourth U.S. service member was killed.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, U.S. Central Command said six U.S. soldiers were “killed in action” as of 4 p.m. Monday, adding that U.S. forces “recently recovered the remains of two previously unnamed soldiers from a facility that was hit during Iran’s initial strikes in the region.”
“Major combat operations continue,” the command said. “The identities of the martyrs are kept until 24 hours after the first notification to their relatives.”
Earlier on Monday, Central Command in question It was stated that the fourth soldier, whose name was not disclosed, “was seriously injured in Iran’s first attacks and later succumbed to his wounds.”
And on Sunday, the US military announced that three US soldiers were “killed in action” and five others were “severely injured” as part of Operation Epic Fury, the joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: Reuters on Sunday It was claimed that US soldiers were killed at a base in Kuwait.
The U.S. military also said Sunday that several additional personnel “suffered minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of returning to duty.”
Announcing the launch of “Operation Epic Rage” on Saturday, Donald Trump said his administration was “taking every possible step to minimize the risk to US personnel in the region.”
But “the lives of brave American heroes may be lost, and we may suffer casualties,” he said, adding that “this happens often in war.”
“But we’re not doing that for now,” Trump said. “We are doing this for the future.”
One video notification On Sunday, Trump said the soldiers killed “true American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation even as they pursued the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.”
“We pray for the full recovery of the injured and send our endless love and gratitude to the families of the martyrs,” he said. “And unfortunately, there will probably be more before it’s over. “That’s the way it is, there will probably be more, but we will do everything possible in cases where that won’t be the case.”
“But America will avenge them and deal the heaviest blow to the terrorists who are basically waging war against civilization,” he added.
US ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz rebroadcast the announcement of the three deaths on Sunday and in question: “Freedom is never free”.
“As the President has warned, efforts of this scope will include deaths,” Pete Hegseth added at a press conference Monday morning.
“War is, and always will be, hell,” the secretary of defense said, adding: “A grateful nation honors the four Americans we’ve lost so far and those wounded – America’s absolute best. Let’s conduct the rest of this operation in a way that honors them.”
Also on Monday morning, the US military said three US warplanes were accidentally shot down in a “friendly fire” incident over Kuwait. All six crew members were evacuated safely, the military said.
Since Saturday, US and Israeli forces have carried out large-scale attacks across Iran, including hitting the compound of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike on Saturday. Iran responded with retaliatory strikes, including the launch of missiles targeting Israel and the United States. military facilities in the region, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
More than 500 people have died in Iran since Saturday, according to the Iranian Red Crescent’s emergency service. Authorities in Israel announced that 11 people died.
In Lebanon, the health ministry said that 31 people died in Israeli air strikes.
At Monday’s press conference, Hegseth said the mission of “Operation Epic Rage” is to “destroy Iran’s offensive missiles, destroy Iran’s missile production, destroy its navy and other security infrastructure, and ensure that they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
“We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” he said.
The press conference took place on Sunday, Trump he told the New York Times He said the United States and Israel could continue to strike Iran for “four to five weeks.”
According to a new news Reuters/Ipsos poll In the report released Sunday, just under a third of Americans surveyed said they approved of attacks in Iran, while 43 percent of those surveyed disapproved of military action. About a third were unsure.
