11 US troops treated for injuries after Iran missile attack

Savannah Behrmann | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption U.S. troops treated for 'concussion symptoms' U.S. Central Command reported that several U.S. service members were actually assessed for concussions after the missile blasts.

WASHINGTON – Several U.S service members were injured during Iran's missile assault on Al-Asad airbase in Iraq last week that houses U.S. troops and coalition forces.

U.S. Central Command in the region said in a statement that "several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed."

"At this time, eight individuals have been transported to Landstuhl, and three have been transported to Camp Arifjan," the statement said.

President Donald Trump said in an address to the nation the morning following the attack that, "no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime.We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases."

The airstrike was retaliation for a U.S. drone strike days earlier that killed one of Tehran's most powerful officials, Qasem Soleimani.

Defense One was the first to report on the injuries.

"As a standard procedure, all personnel in the vicinity of a blast are screened for traumatic brain injury, and if deemed appropriate are transported to a higher level of care. In the days following the attack, out of an abundance of caution, some service members were transported from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, others were sent to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, for follow-on screening," the statement continued.

Top administration officials have stood by the assertion that the threat from Soleimani was imminent but have offered conflicting reasons of what that immediate threat exactly was, and have defended the intelligence that led them to that conclusion.

Iran has indicated there would not be further military retaliation.

“When deemed fit for duty, the service members are expected to return to Iraq following screening. The health and welfare of our personnel is a top priority and we will not discuss any individual’s medical status," the statement says.

The extent of damage to the bases was not immediately clear after the attack, but early-warning defense systems gave U.S. forces advance knowledge that missiles had been launched, according to a U.S. official speaking to USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity.

Contributing: William Cummings, John Bacon Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY