Three U.S. troops have been killed and five more “seriously wounded” as part of Operation Epic Fury, U.S. Central Command announced Sunday.
Several other troops “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions,” the command said, without giving a location. Iranian missiles have targeted several American bases in Bahrain and Iraq as part of the conflict launched by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday.
The retaliatory strikes by the Iranian military came after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. began “major combat operations” in the Middle Eastern country, marking the first confirmed U.S. fatality since the U.S. and Israel’s coordinated attacks.
The U.S. operation — described by Trump as a necessary blow against Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure — had already pushed the longtime adversaries into their most direct confrontation in years. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes against Israeli territory and U.S. installations across the Middle East.
The American death dramatically raises the stakes.
The fatality is likely to intensify pressure on the White House and the Pentagon to respond forcefully, potentially widening the conflict beyond limited strikes into a more sustained military campaign.
In the post-9/11 era, even during high-risk military moments like the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020, direct retaliation by another sovereign government has not immediately killed American personnel in response to a discrete U.S. strike. A confirmed American death now marks a significant break from the recent pattern of calibrated, contained escalation.
Following the attacks from the U.S. and Israel, Iran said it targeted U.S. military facilities in several countries in the Persian Gulf, as well as launching barrages of missiles toward Israel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard targeted several bases, including al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. naval base in Bahrain. Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan was also targeted, according to Iranian state media, as well as a U.S. base in northern Iraq.
