Pentagon: Iran-backed militants injured 21 U.S. troops on counterterrorism mission in Iraq, Syria

Almost two dozen U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Syria were injured in drone attacks last week that officials said were launched by militant groups backed by Iran, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

The Pentagon said 21 U.S. troops received minor injuries from drone attacks on Oct. 17-18 at Al-Assad Airbase in Iraq and the Al-Tanf garrison in Syria. All injured personnel eventually returned to duty, officials said. Iraqi Shiite militia groups with deep ties to Tehran have targeted U.S. installations in the past.

“It is important to note, in some cases, service members may report injuries such as [traumatic brain injury] several days after attacks occur, so numbers may change,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said Wednesday in a statement.

The Defense Department said they will work closely with U.S. Central Command to provide updates.

The U.S. has about 3,000 troops based in Iraq and Syria as part of an anti-Islamic State coalition. As a result of Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists, the Pentagon has dispatched a wide variety of military units to the Middle East, including the carrier strike groups of the USS Gerald R. Ford and U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also issued “prepare to deploy” orders to about 2,000 military personnel and ordered air defense batteries, including the Patriot missile system, to the Middle East.

Biden administration officials have said they have not yet seen direct evidence Iran had prior knowledge of Hamas attacks or directed the drone attacks, but a leading Republican lawmakers said the Pentagon was deliberately minimizing Tehran’s role as regional tensions soar.

“It is possible to be transparent about the threats before us without endangering intelligence,” Sen. Marco Rubio, the ranking GOP member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday. “But instead, [Pentagon officials] continue to knowingly mislead the public by downplaying the Iranian role in these attacks.”