US says missing soldier in Jordan attack is believed dead, toll rises to 18

The Pentagon said missing soldier Sgt Angel S Rampersad is believed dead after Iran's attack on a base in Jordan. The update raises the US military death toll in the conflict to 18 and underscores the widening regional escalation.

In Short

• The Jordan base attack marked first direct Iranian fire killing US troops
• Rampersad served with Germany-based missile defence unit alongside Pvt Gonzales
• Sgt Swinton died in Irbil during controlled detonation of an Iranian drone

The Pentagon has said a third US service member missing after Friday's Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on a base in Jordan is believed to be dead, taking the number of US service members killed since the war began to 18. The soldier has been identified as Sgt Angel S Rampersad, 28, of New York.

The US military had earlier identified two other soldiers killed in the same attack in Jordan, while another US soldier was killed in Iraq during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone. The renewed fighting between the US and Iran is now in its 10th day, with both sides carrying out repeated strikes.

On Monday, the Pentagon identified the two soldiers killed in Jordan as 1st Lt Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. A US Central Command statement said they had been deployed to support a US mission against the Islamic State group. They were killed in what the military described as the first US troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war.

After the attack, US Central Command said two service members had been killed and another was missing. The next day, it said troops had found unidentified remains and that a process to verify them was under way. The Pentagon has now said Rampersad is believed to be that missing soldier and that her official status is now "Duty Status–Whereabouts Unknown" and she is "believed to be deceased". Rampersad belonged to the same unit as Gonzales, the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command based in Ansbach, Germany.

The military also identified the soldier killed in Iraq as Sgt Michael Emmanuel Swinton, a 30-year-old father from North Carolina who had served for nearly a decade. He was killed on Sunday at an air base in Irbil during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone, and the Army said it was investigating the circumstances of his death. Swinton, who enlisted in the Army in 2017, was assigned to the 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He lived in Spring Lake, while the military listed his hometown as Fayetteville.

Swinton will receive a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, and will be promoted to staff sergeant. He is survived by a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter, his mother said. "I will never recover from this," his wife, Mia Gonzalez-Swinton, wrote on Facebook on Monday. "We had so many plans for when you got back, I'm sick to my stomach." His mother, Christel Swinton Andujar, told The Associated Press that his wife and children were the centre of his world. In a text message, she said: "His legacy will live on through the countless lives he touched, the laughter he shared, the strength he gave others, and the unconditional love he poured into his family. He will forever be missed, forever honoured, and forever our hero." Brig Gen John L. Dawber, commanding general of the Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said: "Sgt Swinton was an experienced noncommissioned officer who took great pride in his work and the people around him. He answered the call to duty with courage, honour, and selfless dedication."

The conflict has widened across the region, with Iran attacking US allies in the Middle East, where American soldiers are stationed. Iranian authorities have said US strikes in the past three weeks have killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 500 others. Both sides have also targeted civilian infrastructure used by millions. Workers on ships, as well as foreign workers and others in Gulf nations, Israel and Lebanon, have also died in the conflict.

The US State Department, in a new warning to Americans, said that "Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world". US President Donald Trump has said the war is needed to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but he is facing political pressure to end the conflict and avoid the kind of prolonged Middle East war he had campaigned against. The escalation has also pushed oil prices higher in recent weeks.

With Rampersad now believed to be dead and Swinton identified in Iraq, the latest military announcements underline the growing US toll as fighting with Iran continues across the region.

With PTI Inputs

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