Biden says three US troops killed, 'many' wounded in drone attack by Iran-backed militia in Jordan
Joe Biden has attributed the attack to Iran-backed militia groups. ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore and Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo report
Three American service members were killed and “many” were wounded in a drone strike in Jordan, President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
He has attributed the attack to Iran-backed militia groups. US Central Command said 25 service members were injured the attack in addition to the three killed.
They were the first US' fatalities in months of strikes against American forces across the Middle East by Iranian-backed militias amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, increasing the risk of escalation.
The militias have said that their strikes are in retaliation for Washington’s support for Israeli in the war in Gaza and have also said they aim to push US forces out of the region.
Biden said the United States “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.”
The attack on Saturday night took place in northeast Jordan, near the border with Syria.
Jordanian state television quoted Muhannad Mubaidin, a government spokesman, as insisting the attack happened across the border in Syria.
According to a US official, the number of troops wounded in the attack by a one-way attack drone may grow.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not made public, said a large drone struck the base, which two other American officials identified as an installation in Jordan known as Tower 22.
It is along the Syrian border and is used largely by troops involved in the advise-and-assist mission for Jordanian forces.
US troops long have used Jordan, a close American ally, as a basing point - some 3,000 American troops typically are stationed in Jordan.
“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Biden said in his statement.
He said the US “will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism.”
Since Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip began, US troops in Iraq and Syria have faced drone and missile attacks on their bases.
The attack on Jordan marks the first targeting American troops in Jordan during the war.
Biden, who was in Columbia, South Carolina, was briefed on Sunday morning by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer.
The president called it a “despicable and wholly unjust attack” and said the service members were “risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, and our allies and partners with whom we stand in the fight against terrorism. It is a fight we will not cease.”
A statement from the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III said: "I am outraged and deeply saddened by the deaths of three of our US service members and the wounding of other American troops in an attack last night against US and Coalition forces, who were deployed to a site in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border to work for the lasting defeat of ISIS.
"These brave Americans and their families are in my prayers, and the entire Department of Defense mourns their loss.
"Iran-backed militias are responsible for these continued attacks on US forces, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing.
"The President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests."
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