American special forces have rescued the second crew member of an F-15 fighter jet that was shot down over Iran on April 3.
This was stated by the US President Donald Trump on his social network Truth Social.
He called the rescue of the pilots “one of the most daring search and rescue operations in US history”. According to Trump, the wounded officer — a high-ranking colonel — was “behind the front lines” in the mountains of Iran.
The operation to rescue him involved dozens of aircraft with weapons, and was coordinated by the military command and leadership of the US defense sector, which monitored the pilotʼs location around the clock.
According to Trump, this operation was a continuation of the successful rescue of another F-15 pilot the day before.
"This is the first time in history that two American pilots have been rescued separately, deep in enemy territory. We will never leave an American service member in enemy territory," the US president said, adding that both rescue operations took place "without a single American being killed or even injured".
Iran shoots down US fighter jet
On April 3, Iranian media reported that a US F-15 fighter jet had been shot down over Iran. The information was later confirmed by the US. This was the first time since the start of the war in the Middle East that Iranian forces had shot down a US aircraft.
There were two pilots on board the downed plane. After the crash, they ejected. One of the pilots was rescued immediately on April 3. The media wrote that Israel was assisting with the search with intelligence and canceled planned strikes on Iran so as not to interfere with the search.
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