Six U.S. service members died Sunday after an Iranian strike hit a makeshift tactical operations center at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait, according to U.S. officials. This attack destroyed a triple-wide trailer that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called “fortified.”
U.S. Central Command announced Monday that it recovered the remains of two service members who had been unaccounted for, raising the death toll from the Shuaiba attack to six. CENTCOM stated it would not release the names of the deceased until 24 hours after notifying their families.
A source familiar with the situation told CNN that the strike occurred just after 9 a.m. local time. It landed “dead-center” on the building, which the source described as a triple-wide trailer converted into office space. According to the source, there were no warning sirens to alert personnel to evacuate or seek cover.
Hegseth mentioned at a Pentagon news conference that air defenses intercepted most incoming threats, but “one” munition got through and impacted the operations center. “You have air defenses, and a lot’s coming in, and you hit most of it,” Hegseth said. “Every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter, that makes its way through. And in that particular case, it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons.”
Three U.S. military officials with direct knowledge of the incident told CBS News they questioned whether the operations center was genuinely fortified. They noted that the trailer was only protected by T-walls, 12-foot-tall steel-reinforced concrete barriers meant to limit damage from blasts and shrapnel; however, the barriers could not shield the facility from an overhead strike. Two of the officials stated that the munition seemed to hit the roof.
The officials also shared that there had been internal discussions before the attack about whether the site should have been used, as it gathered too many personnel in a location they considered hard to defend, CBS News reported. Preliminary assessments indicated the strike involved a one-way drone.
A source familiar with the incident told CNN that parts of the building continued to burn for hours after the impact, delaying the recovery of the service members who were unaccounted for after the initial explosion.
CENTCOM and Pentagon officials mentioned that additional U.S. troops suffered serious injuries in the early days of the conflict with Iran. A CENTCOM spokesperson informed CBS News that 18 service members had been seriously wounded by Monday morning in the operation termed Operation Epic Fury by the U.S. military.
In remarks cited by CBS News, Trump expressed that he expected more U.S. casualties as operations progressed. “We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Trump stated. “And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is.”
Reuters reported that Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the military anticipates further losses during what he called “major combat operations,” as U.S. forces and regional partners continue to intercept Iranian missiles and drones.
