The four U.S. service members who were injured when their aircraft was attacked by gunfire Saturday in South Sudan are Navy SEALs, an unnamed defense official told Stars and Stripes.
Three of the SEALs are to be medevaced aboard a C-17 to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for further treatment.
The fourth SEAL remains in Africa, as he is too injured to be evacuated as of yet. An unnamed military official explained to Stars and Stripes:
“One of them had a lot of bleeding, and the complications are related to that."
The Navy SEAL still in Africa currently is in critical condition at a Nairobi, Kenya hospital. An American Critical Care Air Transport Team is providing his care.
American Forces Press Service reports the escalating violence in South Sudan has prompted Army Gen. David M. Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Africa Command, to move the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response from Moron, Spain, to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters Monday:
“As everyone would expect, the combatant commander is repositioning forces in the region in an effort to give himself the maximum flexibility to respond to any follow-on request from the Department of State.”
