New video shows US forces getting hammered by a barrage of Iranian missiles after Trump had a top general killed

al Asad
US soldiers inspect the site where an Iranian missile hit an air base in Iraq in January 2020. John Davison/Reuters
  • The US military released new footage of the Iranian missile attack on US troops on January 8, 2020.

  • The footage, shot by a drone, shows the missiles hammering Al Asad Air Base.

  • The US service members who were on the ground thought they were going to die.

  • Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

The US has released previously unseen video footage of the Iranian missile attack on US and coalition forces in Iraq last year - retaliation for the death of a top Iranian general.

A drone recorded the attack as a barrage of Iranian short-range ballistic missiles carrying 1,000- to 2,000-pound munitions rained down on Al Asad Air Base on January 8, 2020.

The never-before-seen footage of the attack was obtained and aired by "60 Minutes" on Sunday.

US Central Command released a longer, more detailed video on Monday.

Just days into 2020, President Donald Trump ordered the US military to kill Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military officer and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who the Department of Defense said was responsible for "the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more."

The Iranian general, who Trump called "the number one terrorist anywhere in the world," was killed in an airstrike just outside Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander of Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia group that has carried out deadly attacks on US military and civilian personnel in Iraq.

The Revolutionary Guard retaliated on January 8, launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles at US and coalition forces at Al Asad Air Base and Irbil.

U.S. soldiers stand at the spot hit by Iranian bombing at Ain al-Asad air base, in Anbar, Iraq.
Soldiers standing at the spot that an Iranian missile hit. AP Photo/Qassim Abdul-Zahra

US troops who were on the ground thought they were going to die, according to service members who were there who have since shared their experiences.

After receiving intelligence that an Iranian attack was imminent, Lt. Col. Staci Coleman, the commander of the 443rd Air Expeditionary Squadron at Al Asad Air Base, had to decide which service members would evacuate and who would stay behind to defend the base.

"I was deciding who would live and would die," Coleman recalled last year in written testimony.

"I honestly thought anyone remaining behind would perish," she said. "I didn't believe anyone would survive a ballistic missile attack, and it made me feel sick and helpless."

Talking to "60 Minutes" recently, Maj. Alan Johnson, who was also at Al Asad during the attack, said that he received an intelligence assessment that Iran's "intention is to level this base and we may not survive."

Fearing the worst, he recorded a video for his family.

In the heartbreaking video, he tearfully told his 6-year-old son: "Just always know in your heart that I love you, OK? Bye, buddy."

No US troops were killed in the Iranian missile attack, but more than 100 service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries of varying severity. Trump controversially said these combat wounds were "not very serious." A total of 29 troops who were wounded during the attack received Purple Hearts.

Though no troops were killed, which has been described as a miracle, damage to the military bases hosting US troops - specifically Al Asad Air Base - was severe in places.

Damage at Al Asad air base in Iraq is seen in a satellite picture taken January 8, 2020
A satellite picture shows the damage at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on January 8, 2020. Planet/Handout via REUTERS

The Iranian missiles "have bursting radiuses of 50 to 100 feet, and that's just the shrapnel in the actual blast," said Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He characterized the missiles fired at US troops as "very, very significant, serious weapons."

The situation de-escalated after the attack, but tensions between the US and Iran have persisted.

Last week, the Biden administration ordered an airstrike on facilities used by Iran-backed militias in Syria after a series of rocket attacks, including one that killed a coalition contractor and wounded a US service member.

Read the original article on Business Insider