Three US service members have been killed as the strikes on Iran reach a ninth night

The United States has lost service members in the conflict with Iran. US Central Command said on July 19 that three have been killed and one remains unaccounted for, in two separate incidents days apart.

The first was in Jordan. CENTCOM said two service members were killed and one went missing following an Iranian attack on July 17. After what the command described as a thorough search, it said US personnel had found unidentified remains at the location earlier on July 19, and that an examination to verify them was under way. The command is withholding the identities of the fallen and the missing, it said, out of respect for the families during the notification process.

The second was in northern Iraq. A service member there was killed in action on July 18 during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone, according to CENTCOM. A second service member was wounded and is receiving treatment for what the command called a minor injury.

The strikes have continued through the losses. CENTCOM said it completed its ninth consecutive evening of strikes against Iran on July 19 at 10 p.m. ET. It said its assets targeted Iranian military command centres, air defence and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks, and that the aim was to further diminish Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The command said it was acting at the direction of the Commander in Chief.