Smoke rises from an explosion at an undisclosed location in a still image taken from footage released by CENTCOM on Sunday (local time), which the US military said showed an airstrike on Iran. [Reuters]
Smoke rises from an explosion at an undisclosed location in a still image taken from footage released by CENTCOM on Sunday (local time), which the US military said showed an airstrike on Iran. [Reuters]

An Iranian ballistic missile that killed two US soldiers at a base in Jordan pierced American air defenses and scored a direct hit on the prefabricated barracks where troops were sleeping, it has emerged.

The Wall Street Journal, citing officials familiar with the matter, reported Monday (local time) that Iran launched a ballistic missile strike on Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on Friday, with the final missile striking the quarters where soldiers were housed.

The base was hit by three missile strikes over a 24-hour period.

The first missile landed near a gymnasium, sending shrapnel into the building. Attack warning sirens sounded and troops took shelter in bunkers; some were wounded during the evacuation, but there were no fatalities.

The second missile struck an empty aircraft hangar.

The third missile, however, scored a direct hit on the containerized prefabricated barracks where soldiers were sleeping. Warning sirens had sounded, but there was not enough time for all troops to reach the bunkers, officials said.

Second Lt. Tyler Peehan and Pfc. Isabella Gonzalez were killed in the attack. One other soldier remains missing. It has not been confirmed whether the two killed were inside the barracks or were struck while evacuating.

The attack exposed vulnerabilities in US defenses against Iranian missile and drone strikes.

"The ability of three missiles to penetrate US air defenses suggests difficulties in protecting the roughly 50,000 troops stationed in the Middle East against Iranian forces, which still possess a significant number of ballistic missiles and drones," the Journal reported.

Iran has been widening its retaliatory strikes to target US military installations in the region, including in Jordan, after the United States expanded its targets inside Iran amid a stalemate in negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war.

President Donald Trump vowed a forceful response, saying Iran would "pay many times over" for every American soldier it kills.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com