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11 troops were injured in the attack on a U.S. base in Iraq last week. Trump and the Pentagon had said none were hurt.

Officials previously said the attack, which flung some U.S. troops from towers with powerful blasts, did not produce injuries.

U.S. officials near a crater caused by Iranian airstrikes inside the Ain al-Asad base near Anbar, Iraq, on Jan. 13, 2020.
U.S. officials near a crater caused by Iranian airstrikes inside the Ain al-Asad base near Anbar, Iraq, on Jan. 13, 2020.Read moreEmilienne Malfatto / The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Eleven U.S. troops were injured following the Jan. 8 Iranian strikes on a base in Iraq, defense officials said Thursday, reversing assurances from President Donald Trump and the Pentagon that no Americans had been hurt.

Those troops are still being assessed for concussion symptoms following the blast, Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. Eight U.S. troops were evacuated to a U.S. base in Germany, he said, and the other three were sent to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

"When deemed fit for duty, the service members are expected to return to Iraq," Urban said.

U.S. officials disclosed numerous concussions as early as Jan. 13 but did not disclose the evacuations until Defense One reported those details.

The acknowledgement marks a sharp turn from initial reports from defense officials and the president, who described the effects of the missile salvos launched in retaliation for a U.S. strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

"No Americans were harmed in last night's attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties. All of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases," Trump said soon after the attack.

But concussions are not always as immediately evident as shrapnel or gunshot wounds, and in the ensuing days, U.S. troops were assessed for blast injuries. The 11 evacuated were sent for further care and screening "in an abundance of caution," Urban said.

The missile barrage last week against the sprawling Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq left deep craters and the crumpled wreckage of living quarters and a helicopter launch site. At least two soldiers were thrown through the window of a meters-high tower.

Although there was some speculation that the attacks were designed to avoid casualties, commanders at the base believe that the strikes were intended to kill U.S. troops. At least "a couple of dozen" personnel were treated for concussions across the base, a U.S. military official said.

The base hosts about 2,000 troops, 1,500 of them from the U.S.-led coalition.

It is not clear when the personnel were evacuated. On Jan. 12, two days after the attack, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper described damage to facilities and equipment but offered assurances that there were "no casualties." Casualties are typically described by the U.S. military as personnel both wounded and killed.

The Washington Post’s Louisa Loveluck in Baghdad contributed to this report.