US updates injured count in Al Asad attack to 5, down from 7

Five US personnel were injured in an attack this week on Al Asad Airbase in Iraq, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday, a smaller number than the seven injured originally reported.

“After conducting a post-strike analysis, we determined that four service members and one contractor (were) actually injured in the attack. The other two received, you know, very minor injuries and returned to duty right away,” Singh said.

Initial reports said that seven US personnel — five US service members and two contractors — were injured in the rocket attack on Monday. Two rockets impacted the base. Singh said Thursday that a third rocket was intercepted before it hit Al Asad, and that US Central Command is currently reviewing “how these rockets got through.”

Three of the five personnel are receiving further care at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, Singh said, while the fourth US service member and one contractor “have returned to duty and are in the region.”

The Pentagon has blamed Iran-backed groups for the attack; Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that they are “sure it was an Iranian-backed Shia militia group” but the investigation into which group in particular was still ongoing.

“Make no mistake: the United States will not tolerate attacks on our personnel in the region,” Austin said.

The attacks and injuries among US personnel came at a tense time in the Middle East, as the US and the region braced for possible retaliation by Iran on Israel over the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s killing.