US soldier kiled as US, Iran exchange strikes

International

A US service member was found dead following an Iranian drone attack in northern Iraq, a day after a strike on a military base in Jordan killed two US soldiers and left another missing, according to the US military.

The service member was killed during "a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance" from an Iranian drone, which also injured another service member, the US Central Command (Centcom said in a BBC report.

Centcom later reported that search teams had discovered "unidentified remains" at the site of Friday's attack in Jordan.

Authorities said an examination is ongoing to determine the identity of the remains. It came after the United States and Iran entered the eighth day of exchanging attacks, with both sides accusing each other of targeting critical infrastructure.

After a ceasefire collapsed less than a month after it took effect, Washington reimposed sanctions on Iranian ports, while Tehran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, targeting US allies in the area.

According to the US military, its recent strikes were intended to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping" through the strategic waterway and to "swiftly punish" Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Washington blamed for the attack in Jordan.

The military also cited footage from the Jordanian facility showing at least two impacts and an explosion.

Following the death of an American Navy pilot earlier this month, the US death toll from the recent attacks rose to 17.

Meanwhile, Iran's Health Ministry said at least 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured in US strikes over the past three weeks.

As fighting continued on Sunday, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog called for restraint after a nuclear facility in the southwestern city of Darkhoveyn and sites on Qeshm Island were reportedly struck.(Marry Ann Aquilla, UP Cebu Comm Intern)