KEEPS CLIMBING

Defense Department: 109 Service Members Have Mild Brain Injuries After Iranian Missile Attack

The department said 21 individuals have since been transported to the U.S.

Over 100 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury in the aftermath of Iran’s attack on al-Asad airbase following the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. According to the Department of Defense, the number of troops diagnosed with brain injuries has gone up to 109, 45 more individuals than were reported during the department’s last announcement. Seventy-six have since returned to duty, and 27 members total were transferred to Germany for further evaluation and treatment. Twenty-one individuals have been transported to the United States. “We are grateful to the efforts of our medical professionals who have worked diligently to ensure the appropriate level of care for our service members, which has enabled nearly 70 percent of those diagnosed to return to duty,” Alyssa Farah, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement. “We must continue to address physical and mental health together.” This comes after President Trump dismissed the severity of the injuries that resulted from the al-Asad strike, stating that he didn’t consider them to be “bad injuries.”

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