The US military has confirmed the deaths of six service members following an attack on a command centre in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, amid escalating tensions with Iran.
The casualties occurred when an “unmanned aircraft system” penetrated air defences on Sunday, striking the facility. Initial reports from US Central Command listed three fatalities, but officials later confirmed the toll had doubled after one soldier died from injuries and two more bodies were discovered in the rubble. These are the first confirmed American deaths since the US launched a new military campaign alongside Israel targeting Iran.
Four of the deceased, all Army Reserve soldiers, were publicly identified on Tuesday: Capt Cody Khork, 35, Sgt Noah Tietjens, 42, Sgt Nicole Amor, 39, and Sgt Declan Coady, 20. Khork, a Florida resident, had prior deployments to Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo Bay, and Poland. Amor, from Minnesota, previously served in Kuwait and Iraq, while Tietjens, a Nebraska native, had twice been deployed to Kuwait. Coady, from Iowa, enlisted just three years ago and was posthumously promoted from specialist.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described the strike as a “powerful weapon” hitting a “tactical operations centre that was fortified.” However, sources speaking to CBS suggested the soldiers had been working in a temporary office space, a trailer shielded by 12-foot steel-reinforced concrete barriers, raising questions about the building’s vulnerability.
The United States maintains a significant military presence in Kuwait, with over 13,000 troops stationed in the Gulf nation. Iran has retaliated for attacks against it with missile strikes across allied Gulf countries, including Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar.
Separately, three US fighter jets were lost in Kuwait on Monday in what the Pentagon described as an incident of “friendly fire.” All pilots ejected safely. Iran’s state media claimed responsibility for downing the jets but provided no evidence to support the assertion.
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