CENTCOM said a U.S. service member was killed in Iraqi Kurdistan during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.
The death followed an attack on the U.S. Consulate area in Erbil on July 18, where open-source footage showed U.S. air defenses intercepting incoming projectiles and no group had claimed responsibility.
It came a day after an Iranian missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Jordan killed 2 U.S. service members, prompting CENTCOM to say U.S. forces hit the IRGC elements responsible.
The incident unfolded amid an eighth straight night of U.S. strikes on Iran and Tehran's widening retaliation, including 4 ballistic missiles fired at Aqaba in southern Jordan and repeated attacks on Kuwaiti infrastructure.