The IDF commando units Shaldag and Sayeret Matkal participated in the American operation to rescue the navigator whose plane was downed in Iran on Friday, according to a report today (Sunday) by the opposition channel “Iran International." Earlier, Fox News reported that Israel was involved in the rescue operation by sharing intelligence with the United States and by halting Iranian strikes in the area during the hours when the navigator was missing.
This was an operation by US forces that operated on the ground inside Iran to rescue the navigator. It is the first time during the war that the United States has deployed ground forces. According to the report, the navigator used his “Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape" (SERE) training to avoid capture. He hid on an elevated ridge after moving on foot away from the crash site and activated a distress transmitter. He survived with only a handgun and managed to evade potential captors.
Rescue forces from US special operations units, along with multiple elite forces, took part in the complex mission, using MQ-9 Reaper drones for aerial cover. It was also reported that the CIA spread rumors inside Iran that the officer had already been located and that American forces were on their way out-creating confusion among local forces and aiding the operation. (Read More)
