Second US airman downed over Iran 'SAFE and SOUND': Trump

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that a second airman downed inside Iran was “safe and sound” following a search and rescue operation.

“WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The Republican president wrote that he directed the US military to send “dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve” the airman.

“He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine,” Trump wrote.

US media reported Friday that American special forces had rescued one of two crew members of a downed F-15, the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.

Trump confirmed the “successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday,” adding it was not disclosed to avoid jeopardizing the second rescue mission.

“This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory,” he wrote, adding that both operations were concluded “without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded.”

Moreover, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said a US aircraft that had been searching for the crew member of a missing American fighter jet had been destroyed, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

“An American enemy aircraft that was searching for the pilot of a downed fighter jet was destroyed by the fighters of Islam in the southern region of Isfahan,” the Tasnim news agency quoted the Guards as saying.