11 US troops stationed at the Iraqi military base hit by an Iranian missile strike were taken out of Iraq for medical treatment.A US military spokesman said the soldiers were taken to hospitals in Kuwait and Germany with “concussions symptoms.”They are expected to come back to Iraq and continue serving after treatment, a statement said.However, it gives a more checkered picture of the Iranian attack than previous statements that the US had not suffered any casualties.Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.Eleven US troops from the Iraqi military base hit by an Iranian missile strike have been evacuated to military hospitals with concussion symptoms.The service members were transported from Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, due to traumatic brain injury symptoms and of “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a statement by US Central Command (CENTCOM).The news was first reported by DefenseOne. Of the 11 troops removed from service, eight were taken to a facility in Germany and three to one in Kuwait.A statement from Bill Urban, a Navy captain and CENTCOM spokesman, said that all the soldiers are expected to return to service in Iraq.He said they displayed “concussion symptoms” after mandatory screenings given to everybody near a blast, and were sent to the hospitals for further screening.
US soldiers and reporters inspect damage to the Al Asad base in Iraq after it was hit by Iranian missiles.
AP Photo/Qassim Abdul-Zahra
The news comes a week after Iran launched a barrage of missiles against the Iraqi base. Of the 16 missiles that were fired against US targets, 11 landed in Al Asad.In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the US military reported it suffered no casualties — a term that covers both soldiers who are killed and those who are badly injured.President Donald Trump told the media that “no Americans were harmed” in the attack — an assessment which does not align perfectly with the news of the 11 transported soldiers.Iran fired the missiles in retaliation for a drone strike that killed the elite Quds Force paramilitary commander Qassem Soleimani, earlier in January.The killing of Soleimani, who is responsible for arming proxy forces who fought the US, was a part of a long series of escalatory actions between the US and Iran.Following the missile strike, both President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appeared to call for deescalation.”Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned,” Trump said in a speech, one day after the attack.”The government is working daily to prevent military confrontation or war,” Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday.
