The US military has named its first troops killed in the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.
An “unmanned aircraft system” struck a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on Sunday after eluding air defenses, killing six soldiers.
After one person died from injuries and two additional bodies were discovered among the debris, officials confirmed on Monday that the number of soldiers killed in the incident had doubled from the initial three reported by US Central Command.
Since the United States military began a new conflict with Iran alongside Israel, these six are the sole known deaths.
Four of the deceased, all US Army Reserve soldiers, were identified on Tuesday by the US military: Capt. Cody Khork, 35; Sgt. Noah Tietjens, 42; Sgt. Nicole Amor, 39; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20.
Khork, a resident of Florida, had served in Poland, Saudi Arabia, and Guantanamo Bay.
Amor, a Minnesotan, has served in Iraq and Kuwait. Tietjens, a resident of Nebraska, had already served in Kuwait twice. They were all decorated members of the armed forces.
According to the US military, Coady received a posthumous promotion from specialist to sergeant. Only three years ago, the native of Iowa joined the Army Reserve.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that a “powerful weapon” had hit a “tactical operations center that was fortified” during a briefing on Monday.
The service members were operating in an improvised office area, according to three US military sources who had firsthand knowledge of Iran’s attack and spoke to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
They told CBS News that a trailer was being used as an office and that it was protected by 12-foot (3.7-meter) steel-reinforced concrete barricades, raising concerns about whether the building had been sufficiently secured.
Over 13,000 US soldiers are based in Kuwait, a country in the Gulf with whom the US has a long-standing defense partnership.
Iran has launched missiles against US-allied Gulf nations in retaliation for attacks on it. Strikes have also occurred in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar.
The United States announced that three fighter planes were shot down in Kuwait on Monday following what it called a “friendly fire” incident.
The jets were seen in the video spiraling to the ground. All of the pilots involved were able to escape and made it out alive.
Without offering any proof, Iranian state media asserted that the Iranian military had shot down the aircraft.
