Thirty-four US soldiers suffered a concussion after Iran's attack on an Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq in early January, the Pentagon announced on Friday (January 24th).
Half have already returned to their units, but eight soldiers have been repatriated to the United States and nine others have been evacuated to an American military hospital in Germany for treatment, said a spokesman during a press conference Defense Ministry spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman.
Among the symptoms felt by soldiers after the explosions: "Headache, dizziness, hypersensitivity to light, restlessness and nausea. " These symptoms quickly disappeared in some cases but for the others, they worsened and the soldiers concerned were evacuated.
"I don't consider it serious injury"
During the night of January 7-8, Tehran launched missiles against the bases of Ain al-Assad (west) and Erbil (north), where some of the 5,200 American soldiers are stationed. This was in retaliation for the elimination of Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani, killed by a drone near Baghdad a few days earlier.
"No American was injured in last night's attacks", President Donald Trump said in a televised speech shortly after the Iranian attack. But, last week, the Pentagon admitted that a dozen soldiers were actually suffering from a concussion.
Asked about it in Davos, Trump, who seeks to avoid any military escalation with Tehran, again downplayed the impact of the Iranian strikes on Wednesday. "I heard they had a headache, he reacted. I don't consider it serious injury. "
The Pentagon spokesperson explained the new assessment on Friday by the fact that these symptoms often take several days to appear.
