United States service members suffered brain injuries, shrapnel trauma, and burns following the Iranian drone strike in Kuwait, indicating the attack was more severe than previously revealed, according to a report by CBS News published on Wednesday.
Six soldiers died in the attack on a tactical operations center in the Shuaiba port outside of Kuwait City on March first, one day after the US and Israel joint operation against Iran began.
Sources described a “grim and chaotic scene” in the strike’s aftermath, said CBS, and more than 30 American military members were hospitalized. One was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and 12 to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC.
Twenty-five were hospitalized in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, 20 of whom arrived with injuries designated as “urgent,” including traumatic brain injuries, memory loss, and concussions, according to three sources.
Officials from the US Defense Department didn’t initially specify how many had been hurt from the strike. They reported on the day of the attack that five had been seriously wounded, with several others sustaining “minor shrapnel injuries and concussions,” said the report.
Two service members went missing and were later found under the rubble, according to sources.
Hegseth: ‘These are powerful weapons’
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke at the Pentagon last week regarding the attack. “You have air defenses, and a lot’s coming in, and you hit most of it,” he said. “Every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter, that makes its way through. And in that particular case, it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons."
Sources told CBS News that the military has robust air defenses shielding all US personnel from Iranian attacks.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Tuesday that 140 American service members had been injured 11 days into the war. He did not specify where or when they were wounded, said CBS.
"The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty. Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care," said Parnell.
The US military announced on Sunday that another service member had died from injuries sustained during an Iranian attack, bringing the number of US troops killed so far to seven.