US troops in the Middle East were attacked eight times while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized before resuming duty on Friday, Fox News has learned.
Five more incidents occurred after Mr. Austin returned to work Friday night, bringing his total to 128 assaults since Oct. 17 and 13 since his hospitalization.
The Biden administration official was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on January 1 after experiencing “severe pain.” He was taken to the intensive care unit (ICU) and 'reopened'[ed] He completed his mission on Friday, but remains at the medical center.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Austin's illness was the result of complications from an elective medical procedure, but did not provide further details about his stay.
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ARLINGTON, VA – JUNE 23: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin participates in a meeting with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crossetto at the Pentagon on June 23, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Since resuming his duties Friday evening, the Secretary has received operational updates and provided necessary guidance to his team,” Ryder told Fox News Digital. “He has full access to the necessary communication facilities and continues to monitor Daily life at the Department of Defense We are active all over the world. ”
The Pentagon and the Biden administration have been criticized by Republican politicians for not communicating properly about the hospitalizations. Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker told Fox News Digital that the incident “further undermines confidence in the Biden administration, which has repeatedly failed to keep the public informed about important events in a timely manner.”
Recent incidents in the Middle East have targeted U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria and began amid an escalation in the Israeli-Hamas war.
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On December 11, 2023, U.S. soldiers patrol an area on the outskirts of Rumeilan, Hasakeh province in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern region. (DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Iranian-backed terrorist organizations have repeatedly targeted U.S. forces with a combination of one-way drones and rockets. On January 2, one-way attack drones targeted the mission support base Green Village in Syria twice and Erbil Air Base in Iraq once. On the same day, several rockets were fired at the Shadadi patrol base in Syria.
On January 3, a one-way attack drone was fired at U.S. forces in Syria's al-Tanf camp.
On January 4, a mission support base in Syria, Green Village, was targeted by a one-way attack drone, and on January 5, two other drones attacked Syria's al-Tanf garrison and Syria's Shadadi patrol base. targeted.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (out of frame) speaks during a meeting with British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on October 18, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
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No casualties were reported from any of the eight incidents. No damage to infrastructure was reported.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner, Emma Colton and Liz Friden contributed to this report.
