At least two US service members were killed and another is missing after Iranian missile and drone attacks targeted a military base in Jordan, the US military said on Saturday.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the troops were killed on Friday as US and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. It marked the first confirmed US military deaths caused by direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the conflict and comes amid continued hostilities across the region.
In a statement, CENTCOM said: "On July 17, two US service members in Jordan were killed in action as US Central Command (CENTCOM) and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally, one service member is currently missing."
One US service member remains missing in action, it wrote on X.
"Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals. They have since been discharged. Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty," CENTCOM said.
The US military has not identified the two personnel killed and added that their identities will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.
US soldiers face growing risks
The previous recorded death of a US service member was that of a helicopter pilot who crashed in the Arabian Sea earlier this month.
Early in the war, an Iranian drone strike on a command center in Kuwait killed six soldiers. One soldier died after an attack on a base in Saudi Arabia. Six were killed when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq.
On Saturday, the most significant damage from Iranian strikes occurred in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations.
The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny desert nation that depends on desalination for 90% of its drinking water.
Several firefighters and a worker were injured while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, according to the Kuwait Fire Force. Kuwait briefly closed its airspace due to missile threats, and Kuwait Airways said it was rescheduling most flights to and from the capital.
Meanwhile, Iraq said it shot down attack drones over the city of Irbil. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the kingdom’s air defense systems had downed Iranian missiles, while air sirens sounded multiple times in Bahrain throughout the day and in Saudi Arabia in the morning, according to their governments.
The secretary general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.
(With inputs from AP)