More U.S. troops were flown out of Iraq for evaluation after officials believe they might have suffered concussion injuries in the Iranian missile attack earlier this month.
The exact number of additional U.S. forces who were flown out was not released, but Navy Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that the move was made out of an “abundance of caution.”
“As medical treatment and evaluations in theater continue, additional service members have been identified as having potential injuries,” Urban said. “These service members, out of an abundance of caution, have been transported to Landstuhl, Germany, for further evaluations and necessary treatment on an outpatient basis.
“Given the nature of injuries already noted, it is possible additional injuries may be identified in the future,” he added.
Last week, the Pentagon revealed that 11 U.S. troops received treatment for concussions from the Iranian missiles that hit Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces on Jan. 8.
The attack was an Iranian retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s elite Quds Force, and a man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in Iraq.
After launching the missiles at Al Asad base and one base in Irbil, Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner and killed all 176 on board.
