Washington, April 5:
The United States Special Forces have rescued the second F-15 crew member alive, who went missing after Iran downed the jet amid the West Asia conflict, Axios reported, citing government officials.
According to the report, three US government officials told Axios about the successful rescue mission.
Citing a US government official, Al Jazeera reported that the rescue operation is still in progress as the F-15 crew member is “not safe” yet. US Special Forces aim to successfully exfiltrate from Iran and get back to safety.
Both the US and Iran were conducting search operations for the missing crew member. During the search operations, Iranian tribesmen reportedly opened fire on American helicopters, according to CNN.
The incident occurred in the isolated highlands of the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces, as well as the Bakhtiari region, where local groups targeted two Black Hawk helicopters on Saturday, as detailed by Iran’s Fars News Agency.
Following the confrontation, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) praised the tribal groups, describing them as “courageous, valiant and victorious guardians of the borders,” as per reports cited by CNN.
This followed the release of footage on Friday allegedly depicting nomadic Bakhtiari tribesmen armed with rifles patrolling the mountainous terrain of Iran’s Khuzestan province in search of the American personnel. In the video, one of the individuals is heard saying, “God willing, he will be found.”
To further incentivise the search, Iranian authorities had reportedly announced substantial financial bounties for the successful capture of the missing individual.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump withheld details regarding the potential US response should a missing crew member, forced to eject over Iran, be harmed or captured, The Independent reported.
The President declined to specify a course of action during a brief telephone interview on Friday. When questioned by The Independent about the measures he might take if the airman is mistreated by Iranian forces, Trump stated, “Well, I can’t comment on it because we hope that’s not going to happen.”
In latest development in the situation in West Asia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have destroyed the MQ-9 Reaper drone in the central city of Isfahan, according to the Fars news agency.–(ANI)