At least four of the US soldiers wounded in the conflict in Iran are Mexican, according to data released by the US government. In total, 13 service members have died and another 365 have been wounded since President Donald Trump launched the conflict in the Middle East five weeks ago. The figures were detailed in the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), which classifies three other wounded soldiers as Hispanic. The breakdown does not include any casualties that may have occurred this Friday when Iranian forces shot down a US fighter jet.
The operation, dubbed Epic Fury by Trump, continues to take its toll on the US side. The US Army has been the force hardest hit by Iran’s retaliatory attacks, with 247 wounded, followed by 63 Navy personnel, 36 Air Force personnel, and 19 Marines. Furthermore, more than half of the injured service members are under 30 years old. Of the 13 fatalities, seven belong to the Army and six to the Air Force.
The numbers released by the Pentagon come amid the ongoing search for the pilot of the U.S. fighter jet shot down by Iran. This Saturday marks more than 24 hours since the disappearance of the service member, who was piloting an F-15 fighter jet. While the other crew member was rescued alive, the U.S. government has been unable to locate the pilot.
The search has become a race against time for both Washington and Tehran. For the Iranian government, a captured service member would be a bargaining chip, while for the Republican administration, it threatens to become a crisis. Since the announcement of the downing, Trump has remained silent on the incident. He has not appeared in public, nor is he expected to do so on Saturday, as his public schedule does not include any events. On Friday, he gave a series of brief interviews to various media outlets, but declined to specify what measures he would take if the soldier was not rescued safe and sound. He only indicated, in comments to NBC News, that the case would not affect attempts to reach an agreement with Iran, in negotiations that Washington says it is holding with the adversary, and which Tehran denies.
