The United States military has announced the death of a third American soldier in recent days, saying he was killed in northern Iraq “during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance” from a downed Iranian drone.
In a statement on Sunday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the soldier died on July 18 and that a second service member suffered mild injuries during the detonation.
CENTCOM Update on Recently Fallen U.S. Service Members
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 19, 2026
TAMPA, Fla. — Yesterday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the passing of two U.S. service members and the missing status of one in Jordan following an Iranian attack on July 17. After a thorough search, U.S.…
The death on Saturday brought the number of US service members killed since the US and ‘Israel’ launched their war on Iran to 17. The war began on February 28.
Two other US service members were killed in Iranian strikes in Jordan on Friday, while a third went missing. CENTCOM said on Sunday that unidentified remains have been found at the location and an examination process was under way to identify them.
The announcement came as the US attacked Iran for a ninth consecutive night, and Tehran fired missiles and drones at US assets in the Gulf in retaliation.
Reports suggest the highly explosive Iranian one-way attack drones – called “Shahed” – can be produced at a cost of about $30,000 each, making their mass deployment in attacks relatively cheap for Iran.
The interceptors used to shoot them down can cost millions of dollars each, and do not always find their targets.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar)