Six US service members have been killed in the US military operations against Iran, the US Central Command said on Monday afternoon.
The announcement comes one day after the military confirmed the deaths of three US service members on Sunday, which marked the first known US fatalities since the strikes against Iran began on Saturday, and just several hours after the Central Command had reported that a fourth US service member had been killed.
In a statement released on Monday afternoon, the US Central Command said that as of 4pm ET on Monday, six US service members “have been killed in action”, adding that US forces “recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region”.
“Major combat operations continue,” the command said. “The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification.”
Earlier on Monday, Central Command said that the fourth service member, who was not named, “was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries”.
And on Sunday, the US military had said that three US service members were “killed in action” and five others were “seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury”, the joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Sunday that the US troops had been killed at a base in Kuwait.
The US military also said on Sunday that several additional personnel “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions – and are in the process of being returned to duty”.
When announcing the start of “Operation Epic Fury” on Saturday, Donald Trump said that his administration was “taking every possible step to minimize the risk to US personnel in the region”.
But, he said, “the lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties” adding that “that often happens in war”.
“But we’re doing this not for now” Trump said. “We’re doing this for the future”.
In a video statement on Sunday, Trump called the service members killed “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.
“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” he said. “And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is, likely be more, but we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case.
“But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization,” he added.
Michael Waltz, the US envoy to the United Nations, reposted the announcement of the three deaths on Sunday, and said: “Freedom is never free”.
During a news conference on Monday morning, Pete Hegseth added that “as the president warned, an effort of this scope will include causalities”.
“War is hell and always will be,” the defense secretary said, adding that “a grateful nation honors the four Americans we have lost thus far and those injured, the absolute best of America. May we prosecute the remainder of this operation in a manner that honors them.”
Also on Monday morning, the US military said that three US fighter jets were mistakenly shot down over Kuwait in an apparent “friendly fire” incident. The military said that all six crew members were ejected safely.
Since Saturday, US and Israeli forces have carried out large-scale strikes across Iran, including striking the compound of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US Israeli attack on Saturday. Iran has responded with retaliatory strikes, including by launching missiles aimed at Israel and US military facilities in the region, including in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the Iranian Red Crescent emergency service, more than 500 people have been killed in Iran since Saturday. In Israel, authorities said that 11 people had been killed.
And in Lebanon, the health ministry there have said that 31 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
During the news conference on Monday, Hegseth said that the mission of “Operation Epic Fury” was to “destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons”.
“We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly, and unapologetically,” he said.
The news conference came as on Sunday, Trump told The New York Times that the US and Israel could keep striking Iran for “four to five weeks”.
According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday, just under a third of Americans polled said that they approved of the strikes in Iran, while 43% of the respondents disapproved of the military action. Around a third were not sure.
