Three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five have been seriously wounded, the Pentagon said in announcing the first American troops to die in President Trump’s war with Iran.
United States Central Command did not say where the troops were killed. Two military officials said that an Army base housing American troops in Kuwait was one of the many American bases in the region that had been hit in retaliatory Iranian strikes.
Several other troops “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of being returned to duty,” Central Command said in a social media post on Sunday.
While Central Command did not confirm the location of the troops killed and injured, the involvement of shrapnel could imply that the injuries were the result of an Iranian strike.
Since the joint U.S. and Israel military strikes began Saturday morning, Iran has launched hundreds of retaliatory missiles at a wide swath of American and Israeli targets in the region, as well as at Arab countries it considers allies of the United States. In the past, Iran has given warning before launching retaliatory strikes on bases housing American troops.
In announcing the start of the war in Iran early Saturday morning, Mr. Trump said that the campaign could result in American deaths. Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had cautioned Mr. Trump in recent private meetings that American troops could be killed or injured.
The Pentagon had moved some troops in the region to different locations in advance of Saturday’s attacks.
“My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region,” Mr. Trump said Saturday.
Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent for The Times. She was previously an editor, diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent.
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