Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP / Getty Images
At least 45 U.S. military personnel stationed in the Middle East have been injured in a series of drone attacks from Iranian-backed forces.
During a press conference on Monday (November 6, Pentagon Spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters there have been at least 38 drone attacks targeting U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq since October 17. He said that 20 of the attacks were in Iraq, and the other 18 were in Syria.
Overall, Ryder said that 45 troops were injured in the attacks. He said that most of the injuries were minor, but several troops suffered traumatic brain injuries. Ryder noted that the increased number of injuries is due to the fact the troops didn't report their symptoms immediately after the fact, which can be common with some brain injuries.
"So, as I highlighted, a lot of times, you're not going to know, shortly after there's been an attack, whether there's injuries. These are highly reliant on individual self-reporting, if there's not an apparent wound," Ryder said.
"So the kinds of things I laid out, you know, rolled ankle, tinnitus, headaches, those kinds of things. So that's, kind of, where we're at."