According to the BBC. The US has rescued the missing crew member of a US F-15 fighter jet that was shot down over southern Iran on Friday. President Donald Trump confirmed the rescue on social media on Sunday morning, stating that the officer is now ‘SAFE and SOUND!’ He described the operation as ‘one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in its history.’

How was the officer rescued?

The US and Iran were in a race to locate the missing crew member after the jet was downed over southern Iran. The exact circumstances of the US rescue remain unclear, but one person familiar with the operation described it as a ‘huge’ combat search and rescue mission in southern Iran. According to the BBC. There was an engagement between the US and Iranian forces during the rescue, and the pilot may have been injured during his initial ejection from the aircraft.

The rescue of crew members of a downed jet is one of the most complex and time-sensitive operations, known as combat search and rescue (CSAR), that the US military and its allies prepare for. The air force units behind CSAR missions include some of the most highly trained and specialised members of the military, while the missions are often conducted by helicopters, which fly low over enemy territory, alongside other military aircraft that conduct strikes and patrol the area.

What happened during the rescue?

Trump said the airman – a colonel – ‘was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour.’ Officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the crew member spent more than 24 hours on his own, hiding in the mountains with a handgun. The president added the airman’s location was monitored ’24 hours a day’ by senior US officials who were planning the rescue operation.

A senior official also told CBS that the CIA played a serious role in the rescue mission by tracking the airman in a mountain crevice and passing his exact location to the Pentagon. The agency engaged in a deception campaign inside Iran, reports said. While the rescue attempt was taking place, the agency spread word the airman had already been found and was being extracted from Iran.

Trump said the US military sent dozens of aircraft into Iran and claimed the operation was carried out without any Americans being killed or wounded. Iranian state media reported that troops from the Islamic Major Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down a US drone while it was searching for the missing airman. The American drone crashed in Iran’s southern Isfahan province, the IRGC’s public relations office is quoted as saying, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Where and when was the jet shot down?

Iranian state media first claimed on Friday that the country’s forces shot down a US jet over its southern region. The exact location where the F-15 was reportedly downed was unconfirmed, but two possible provinces were mentioned in Iran’s state media – Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and Khuzestan. Two crew members were on board the jet which was shot down. The pilot of the jet was recovered in an earlier operation. That operation reportedly included an A-10 Warthog aircraft which was hit over the Gulf, with its pilot ejecting before being rescued.

One helicopter carrying the rescued pilot from the F-15E jet was hit by small arms fire, injuring crew members on board – but it landed safely, US media reported. Iran’s Islamic Major Guard Corps (IRGC) has said that nomadic tribes living in the country’s mountains shot two Black Hawk helicopters that were part of the US rescue mission. BBC Verify has confirmed a video from Friday showing what appears to be three armed individuals firing towards at least two Black Hawk helicopters.

The Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad region is a mountainous south-western province, home to more than 700,000 people, including nomads. The nomads in the area are known to carry rifles to protect their herds and camps from wild animals and theft in the remote highlands. The province of Khuzestan is a powerhouse for oil and several other industries. It is home to more than 4.7 million people, with a diverse population, including Arabs, Persians, Lors and other ethnic groups.