Eric Schmitt, Helen Cooper, Greg Jaffe and Julian E. Barnes
Updated ,first published
Washington: An Air Force officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran was rescued by US Special Operations forces in a dangerous mission Saturday night (Tehran time) that took commandos deep into enemy territory, President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday.
The rescue followed a two-day life-and-death race between US and Iranian forces to reach the injured bird, who is a weapons system officer, current and former US officials said.
In the end, the commandos of Navy SEAL Team 6 took out the officer in a major operation involving 100 special operations soldiers and other soldiers.
There were no American casualties among the rescue team, Trump said. All commandos and artillerymen returned safely. Rescue planes flew the injured bird to Kuwait for treatment.
“WE GOT HIM!” Trump said in a social media post. “This brave warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour.”
Two crew members of an F-15E Strike Eagle, the first lost by the enemy in a month-long battle, were both ejected from the cockpit on Friday after Iran’s military shot down their plane. The pilot of the plane was quickly rescued, but the weapons systems officer could not be found, setting off a rapid search with major implications for Trump and the war that America and Israel started on February 28.
The search for the downed bird, which was hidden with little more than a pistol as protection, has been the highest priority of the US military in the last 48 hours.
After leaving the F-15E, the officer hid in a mountain crevice, his location previously unknown to the Americans trying to rescue him, or the Iranians trying to capture him.
The CIA launched a deception campaign to try to confuse the Iranian military into believing the plane had already been rescued and was leaving the country in a ground convoy, a senior administration official said. The agency also eventually found the plane’s whereabouts, relaying information to the Pentagon, which launched a rescue operation, a senior administration official said.
The rescue mission employed hundreds of special forces and other military personnel, several US fighter jets, helicopters and cyber, air and other intelligence capabilities.
The soldier evaded Iranian forces for more than 24 hours, at one point climbing a 2,100-meter slope, a senior US military official said. American warplanes bombed and fired on Iranian convoys to keep them away from the area where the plane was hiding. As US commandos were converging on the downed plane, they fired their weapons to keep Iranian forces away from the evacuation zone, but did not engage in a firefight with the Iranians, a US military official said.
The flight attendant had a flashlight and a secure communication device to coordinate the rescue. But the astronaut stopped using his flashlight because Iranian forces could detect his signal as well.
A high-ranking official of the US military described the mission to save the plane as one of the most challenging and complex in the history of US special operations, due to the mountainous area, the plane’s injuries and the Iranian forces rushing to the area.
In the last case, after the weapons officer was rescued, the two transport planes that were supposed to carry the commandos and airmen to safety got stuck at a remote station in Iran. The commanders decided to fly in three new planes to take out all the American troops and planes, and they blew up the two disabled planes rather than let them fall into Iranian hands.
The F-15E fighter jet was shot down in the area of Iran where there is strong opposition to the Iranian government. As a result, the bird may have been able to rely on the locals for shelter and support.
The accident drew the attention of Iran’s armed forces, which reportedly surrounded the area. The Iranian government asked locals for help in finding the downed bird and had offered a reward for its capture.
The CIA is also often responsible for making contacts with civilians willing to help soldiers in danger stay alive, a process known as “unconventional assisted recovery”.
This article originally appeared in New York Times.
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