Stoking fears of a military escalation in the Middle East, three US soldiers were killed and over 30 injured in a drone strike carried out allegedly by Iran-backed militants in Jordan. The attack took place near a small base near the border with Syria. US forces at the outpost are there as part of an "advise and assist" mission with Jordan.
President Joe Biden reacted to the incident stating that the US shall respond to the attack. He also blamed Iran-backed militias for the fatalities. "We had a tough day last night in the Middle East. We lost three brave souls in an attack on one of our bases," he said. After the moment of silence, Biden added, "we shall respond."
A written statement by the President that the United States will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner (of) our choosing. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said "we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests."
It is the first time that a strike has killed US troops in the region since Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel.
The drone landed near living quarters at the base, located near the Syrian border, CNN quoted two US officials. At least 34 military personnel were being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury and have been evacuated from the base. It is unclear why the air defense system failed to stop the drone.
Meanwhile, the White House said the US officials were working to conclusively identify the precise group responsible for the attack. The assumption is that one of several Iranian-backed groups was behind it.
Iran's mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday that Tehran was not involved in an attack that killed three U.S. service members in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border. In a statement published by the state news agency IRNA, the mission said: "Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the U.S. base."It added: "There is a conflict between U.S. forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks."
Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group for several Iran-backed militias in the country, said it attacked a number of places along the Jordan-Syria border Sunday — including a camp near the US base in Jordan where soldiers were killed today. The camp, Al-Rukban, is in close proximity to Tower 22, where the US announced three service members were killed in a drone attack.
The Islamic Resistance's statement, posted to its Telegram channel, came earlier today — before the US announced the death of its service members.
In a statement on Jordan's state-run Petra news agency, the country condemned the terrorist attack that targeted the US troops. That report described the drone strike as targeting an outpost on the border with Syria and said it did not wound any Jordanian troops.
Meanwhile, Iran-backed fighters in east Syria began evacuating their posts, fearing US airstrikes, according to Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet. He told The Associated Press that the areas are the strongholds of Mayadeen and Boukamal.
