American Troops Were Injured in Jan. 8 Iran Missile Attack

WASHINGTON—Nearly a dozen American troops were injured in the Iranian missile attack on two bases in Iraq last week, Defense Department officials said, after initially stating that there were no casualties in the strikes.

Eleven individuals are being screened for traumatic brain injuries following the attacks on two bases in Iraq that house American troops. Iran fired a dozen rockets total at Erbil in northern Iraq and the sprawling Al Asad air base in the west in retaliation for the American killing of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani days before. Pentagon officials at the time said there were no casualties.

But late Thursday, U.S. Central Command acknowledged that there were injuries and the 11 service members suffered concussions during the attack.

“While no U.S. service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed,” according to Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla. “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.”