The US military announced on Sunday the first American casualties of President Donald Trump's intensifying attack on Iran, as a new poll showed only one in four Americans supported strikes against the Middle Eastern country.
As the conflict entered its second day, Trump said 48 Iranian leaders had been killed and that the US military had started sinking Iran's Navy, destroying nine Iranian warships so far and "going after the rest." US aircraft and warships have struck more than 1,000 Iranian targets since Trump ordered the start to major combat operations on Saturday, the US military said. The strikes include B-2 stealth bombers dropping 2,000-lb bombs on hardened, underground Iranian missile facilities.
Iran's retaliatory attacks also started taking their toll.
Although the US military reported no casualties on Saturday, on Sunday it said three US troops were killed and another five were seriously wounded in US operations against Iran.
US Central Command said several other US troops suffered minor shrapnel injuries and concussions as well. It did not disclose where or how those casualties took place.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the US service members were killed on a base in Kuwait.
Trump sought to brace the US public for more casualties as he acknowledged the deaths, the first in major operations since he returned to office last year. The US bombing of Iran's nuclear sites last June and the US military's seizure of Venezuela's president in January did not lead to US fatalities. (Reuters)
