The toll of the Iranian strikes carried out on January 8 against bases sheltering American troops in Iraq is heavier than initially announced with 34 American soldiers victims of concussion, announced Friday the Pentagon.

Of these 34 soldiers, 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. They will be treated for symptoms of concussion due to the explosions, said a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, Jonathan Hoffman, during a press conference on Friday.

Among the symptoms experienced by the soldiers, he cited "headaches, dizziness, hypersensitivity to light, agitation and nausea". These symptoms disappeared quickly in some cases, but for the others, they worsened and the soldiers had to be evacuated.

During the night of January 7-8, the Islamic Republic launched missiles against the bases of Ain al-Assad (west) and Erbil (north), where some of the 5,200 American soldiers are stationed, in retaliation for the elimination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

"No American was injured in the attacks last night," US President Donald Trump said shortly afterwards in a televised speech.

"I heard they had a headache"

But last week, the Pentagon admitted that 11 soldiers were actually suffering from a concussion. The Pentagon spokesman explained the new assessment on Friday by the fact that these symptoms often take several days to appear.

Asked about it in Davos, Donald Trump, who seeks to avoid any military escalation with Tehran, again minimized the impact of the Iranian strikes on Wednesday. "I heard they had a headache," he said. "I don't consider it serious injury."

But the billionaire's comments, campaigning for his re-election, were strongly criticized by the Democratic opposition.

Believing that Donald Trump "lied" when he announced that there were no injuries in the aftermath of the Iranian raids, elected Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz pointed out on Twitter that "almost half of concussions require intervention and can lead to permanent disabilities. "

Former Vice President Joe Biden mentioned the 34 injured during a campaign rally in New Hampshire.

Donald Trump "wiped out the wounds suffered by the brave soldiers who were bombed" by Iran in Iraq, said the Democratic presidential candidate before recalling the President's comment on the "evils of head "of American soldiers.
"Frankly, I find it disgusting," he concluded.

With AFP


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