Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper and Greg Jaffe
Washington: An Air Force officer whose fighter jet had been shot down in Iran was rescued by US Special Operations forces in a risky Saturday night (Tehran time) mission that took commandos deep into enemy territory, current and former US officials briefed on the operation said.
The rescue followed a life-or-death race between US and Iranian forces that stretched over two days to reach the injured airman, the officials said. In the end, US commandos extracted the officer in a massive operation that involved hundreds of special operations troops.
The two crew members of the F-15E Strike Eagle, the first lost to enemy fire in the month-long war, had both ejected from the cockpit on Friday after Iran’s military struck their plane. The jet’s pilot was quickly rescued, but its weapons systems officer could not be found, setting off an urgent search with major consequences for US President Donald Trump and the war the United States and Israel launched February 28.
Finding the downed airman, who had been hiding with little more than a pistol as defence, had been the US military’s highest priority over the past 48 hours.
The mission to save the crew member employed hundreds of special forces troops, dozens of US warplanes, helicopters and cyber, space and other intelligence capabilities.
US attack aircraft dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys to keep them away from the area where the airman was hiding. As US forces converged on the downed airman, a firefight erupted, two former senior military officials briefed on the operation said.
The airman was equipped with a beacon and a secure communication device for co-ordinating with forces mounting the rescue.
A senior US military official described the mission to rescue the airman as one of the most challenging and complex in the history of US special operations.
In a final twist, after the weapons officer was rescued, two transport planes that would carry the commandos and the airmen to safety got stuck at a remote base in Iran. Commanders decided to fly in three new planes to extract all the US military personnel and the airmen, and they blew up the two disabled planes rather than have them fall into Iranian hands.
The F-15E fighter jet was shot down in a region of Iran where there is significant opposition to the Iranian government. As a result, the airman may have been able to rely on locals for shelter and assistance.
The crash also drew the attention of Iranian military forces, who were reported to have been scouring the area. The Iranian government asked locals for help finding the downed airman, and had offered a reward for the airman’s capture.
The CIA often also plays a role in making contact with civilians willing to help vulnerable troops stay alive, a process known as “unconventional assisted recovery.”
