US military evacuates 19 injured personnel from Middle East amid regional escalation

ISTANBUL

The US military evacuated 19 injured personnel Thursday from the Middle East to Germany as regional tensions continued to escalate due to the joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran.

Citing sources, CBS News reported that the plane flew from Saudi Arabia, stopped in Oman and landed at a US base in Germany near a military hospital.

Two evacuees were injured when a drone exploded near their vehicle, the report said.

The military previously evacuated dozens of service members injured in a strike on a US facility in Kuwait that killed six people.

Around 20 arrived Tuesday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany with serious injuries including brain trauma, burns and shrapnel wounds, sources told CBS News.

Landstuhl declined to comment to CBS News on Thursday’s evacuation, however.

The developments came amid US and Israeli attacks on Iran launched on Feb. 28 that have killed around 1,300 people, including several top officials.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Iraq and Gulf countries that host US military assets.