Three US service members have been killed Sunday in Jordan and no less than 34 others have been wounded in what the Biden administration mentioned was a drone assault by an Iran-backed militia, the primary navy deaths Individuals conscious of hostile hearth within the turmoil that unfold from Israel. warfare with Hamas.
The assault befell at a distant logistics outpost in northeastern Jordan referred to as Tower 22 the place the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan converge. The one-way assault drone struck close to the outpost's housing, inflicting accidents starting from minor cuts to mind trauma, a US navy official mentioned.
However the deaths of US service members, most of whom have been navy reservists, will nearly actually improve stress on President Biden to return again stronger as combating escalates within the Center East after the assaults of October 7 that killed 1200 individuals in Israel.
“Three United States service members have been killed – and plenty of injured – throughout an unmanned aerial drone assault on our forces stationed in northeastern Jordan close to the Syrian border,” Mr. Biden mentioned in a press release on Sunday. “Whereas we’re nonetheless gathering the details of this assault, we all know it was carried out by radical militant teams backed by Iran working in Syria and Iraq.”
Talking later in Columbia, SC, Mr. Biden mentioned: “We have now misplaced three courageous souls.” The president then led a second of silence, earlier than including: “We’ll reply.”
Protection Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III additionally held Iranian-backed militias chargeable for continued assaults in opposition to US troops within the area, however didn’t establish which nation the assault was from. launched “The president and I can’t tolerate assaults on American forces, and we’ll take all obligatory actions to defend the US, our troops and our pursuits,” Mr. Austin mentioned.
The Pentagon declined to establish the service members who died or their items pending notification of members of the family. The navy's Central Command mentioned in a press release that eight of the wounded service members have been taken to “larger degree care” outdoors the nation, which different officers mentioned was in Iraq. Central Command mentioned it anticipated the variety of accidents to “fluctuate” as extra service members sought therapy.
In a press release, Iranian-backed militias calling themselves the Axis of Resistance claimed accountability for the assault on the bottom in a distant desert space of Jordan, saying it was a “continuation of our strategy to withstand to the American occupation forces in Iraq and”. the area”.
A spokesman for Iran's Overseas Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, mentioned at a press convention on Monday that the militias “don’t take orders” from Iran and act independently to oppose “any aggression and occupation “. He mentioned accusations that Iran had ordered the assault have been “baseless,” and blamed Israel and the US for fueling instability within the area.
The drone strike got here as Israel and Hezbollah, one other Iranian ally, exchanged hearth throughout the Lebanese border. A Houthi militia in Yemen, additionally backed by Iran, has fired missiles and drones at industrial ships within the Crimson Sea and Gulf of Aden, calling it retaliation for Israel's bombardment of Gaza. The US and its allies have fired again, hitting Yemen no less than 10 occasions.
And on Jan. 20, no less than 4 U.S. service members stationed in western Iraq have been injured when their air base got here below rocket and missile hearth from what U.S. officers mentioned have been they have been Iranian-backed militias. It was the newest in no less than 164 assaults by Iran-backed militias in opposition to US troops in Syria, Iraq and Jordan for the reason that October 7 assaults.
Till Sunday's lethal assault, senior administration officers mentioned solely luck had spared the US from extra critical casualties. A drone full of explosives landed on a barracks at Erbil Air Base in Iraq on October 25. It turned out to be a dud, however many service members would more than likely be injured or killed if it exploded, a senior navy official mentioned. .
The drone assault in Jordan on Sunday confirmed that Iranian-backed militias – whether or not in Iran or Syria, or the Houthis in Yemen – remained able to inflicting critical penalties on American troops regardless of the efforts of American military to weaken them and keep away from killing in a wider. battle, probably with Iran itself.
“We don't need to go down a path of larger escalation that leads to a much wider battle within the area,” Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, mentioned Sunday.
Requested in a pre-recorded session on ABC Information' “This Week” whether or not he thought Iran needed warfare with the US, Normal Brown, echoing the assessments of US intelligence companies, he mentioned, “No, I don't suppose so.”
In his assertion, Mr. Biden referred to as the fallen American troops “patriots within the highest sense,” and mentioned they “risked their very own security for the protection of their fellow Individuals, and our allies and companions with whom we’re within the battle in opposition to our fellow Individuals. terrorism. It’s a battle that we are going to not cease.”
Final Sunday, the Pentagon declared two Navy SEALs lifeless after they went lacking 10 days earlier throughout an operation at sea to intercept weapons from Iran aimed toward Houthi fighters.
The Navy commanders have been the primary recognized US casualties in Washington's marketing campaign in opposition to the Houthis, who from the territory they management within the north of the nation have launched dozens of assaults on ships in the Crimson Sea since November, ruining the worldwide delivery business.
The Individuals killed Sunday have been the primary recognized deaths from hostile hearth within the area for the reason that October 7 assaults by Hamas.
About 350 Military and Air Power personnel are stationed on the border outpost Tower 22. It serves as a logistics and provide heart for the close by Al Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria, the place US troops are working with native Syrian companions to battle the remnants of the Islamic State. America additionally has about 2,000 troops stationed at an air base in Azraq, Jordan, in addition to Particular Operations forces and navy trainers.
“By shopping for Jordanian land, Iran will worsen one other US relationship within the area,” mentioned Charles Lister of the Center East Institute in Washington.
The Jordanian authorities in a press release condemned the assault and mentioned the Individuals have been “cooperating with Jordan to counter terrorism and safe the border.”
It was unclear on Sunday why superior air defenses had not intercepted the drone, which former navy commanders mentioned seemed to be the primary recognized assault on the positioning since assaults on US forces started shortly after the 'incursion of the seventh of October.
In 2016, the US navy turned Al Tanf right into a small base. It’s on the strategic Baghdad-Damascus freeway – a significant hyperlink for forces backed by Syria's ally Iran in a hall that runs from the Iranian capital, Tehran, via Iraq and Syria to southern Lebanon.
The Rukban refugee camp, with round 8,000 residents, is near Al Tanf and Tower 22.
Troops in Al Tanf have come below hearth earlier than from Iran-backed militias. The Protection Division mentioned final fall that 21 troops suffered minor accidents however returned to responsibility after the Oct. 17 and 18 assaults on Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq. and the Al Tanf garrison.
Congressional Republicans who’ve criticized Mr. Biden's cope with Iran and its proxies took the assault on Sunday to ask the administration to take stronger motion.
“We should reply to those repeated assaults by Iran and its proxies by putting instantly at Iranian targets and their management,” mentioned Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the highest Republican on the Armed Providers Committee. “The Biden administration's responses to date have solely invited extra assaults.”
The report was contributed by Alyssa J. Rubin from New York, Zolan Kanno-Youngs from Charlotte, NC, Peter Baker and Julian E. Barnes from Washington and Rana Sweis from Amman, Jordan.
