US service member seriously injured in attack at Iraq base transferred to Germany in stable condition
By Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Michael Williams, CNN
Washington (CNN) — An American service member who was seriously injured in a Christmas Day attack on an airbase in Iraq has been transferred to a hospital in Germany in critical but stable condition, two defense officials told CNN.
The service member was one of three US troops injured in the attack by Iran-backed militants on Erbil Air Base Monday. The two other service members suffered more minor injuries.
The attacks prompted President Joe Biden to order retaliatory strikes targeting three facilities used by the Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah and “affiliated groups.” The Iran-backed militant group earlier claimed credit for using a one-way attack drone to target the air base.
The US strikes “likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants,” according to a US Central Command statement. US officials said there were “no indications that any civilian lives were affected” in the strikes, but the Iraqi government said 18 people, including civilians, were injured.
The attack on Erbil Air Base was the latest in a series of attacks targeting US forces in the region over the last several months. They have increased significantly since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.
“The many Iran-aligned militias that operate freely in Iraq threaten the security and stability of Iraq, our personnel, and our partners in the region,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said earlier this month after an attack that targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad.
The-CNN-Wire
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