A fourth American service member has died after coming under attack from Iran over the weekend, the US military said Monday.
Tampa, Fla.-based US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the victim succumbed to their injuries after being initially listed as seriously wounded in the attack targeting Kuwait.
The identities of fallen service members are withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified.
“Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing,” CENTCOM said.
Four American military members are understood to have been seriously wounded in the attack.
CENTCOM initially announced Sunday that three US service members had been killed and five were seriously wounded, while several others who suffered minor shrapnel injuries and concussions had been treated and were preparing to return to duty.
The victims were members of a US Army unit that oversees supplies and logistics, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press Sunday.
President Trump told the New York Times Sunday evening, before the fourth death was announced, that “three is three too many, as far as I’m concerned,” but added that “if you look at projections, they [the Pentagon] do projections, it, you know, it could be quite a bit higher than that.”
The president separately said that he anticipated the campaign against Iran to last approximately one month after strikes began Feb. 28.
“It’s always been a four-week process,” Trump told the Daily Mail. “We figured it will be four weeks or so. It’s always been about a four-week process so — as strong as it is, it’s a big country, it’ll take four weeks — or less.”
In the same interview, the president said he was not surprised by the progress of the campaign — except “we took out their entire leadership – far, far more than what we thought.”
