Dozens of US troops were seriously injured in an Iranian drone attack on a US tactical operations center in Kuwait early in the war with Iran, according to a report Wednesday.
The troop suffered brain trauma, burns and shrapnel wounds, with at least one service member requiring the amputation of a limb, CBS News reported, citing multiple sources.
More than 30 personnel remained hospitalized as of Tuesday, it said.
One was reportedly being treated at Brooke Army Medical Center in the US state of Texas, 12 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near Washington, and about 25 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Around 20 of those injured were flown to Germany on a C-17 military aircraft with “urgent” injuries requiring evacuation, including concussions, memory loss and traumatic brain injuries, sources told CBS.
The Pentagon initially said five were seriously wounded and “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions.”
Read more: Pentagon Briefing: $11.3 Billion Spent in First Week of Iran War
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Tuesday that 140 US service members have been injured since the start of the war with Iran, and that most have returned to duty while eight remain severely wounded and receiving advanced medical care.
The drone strike in Iranian drone strike earlier in the early days of war in Kuwait had already killed six U.S. service members. Dozens suffered injuries, including brain trauma, shrapnel wounds and burns, and is said to end the initial attack by Iran was much more severe than has been reported in the media, claims the recent reports.
Sources described a grim and chaotic situation in the aftermath of the strike on a tactical operations center at the Shoeba port outside Kuwait City on March 1. More than 30 military members remained in hospital till Tuesday night with battle injuries from the Kuwait attack. Two of the service members were missing after the attack and were later and were later found under the rubble, sources said.
The Pentagon has a process to notify wounded soldiers’ family members and seeks to shield them from learning from press releases about how extensive the injuries were. Another American service member was killed in a separate strike in Saudi Arabia on March 1. However, it is unclear how many of the service members are currently injured in these attacks.
