The U.S. pointed fingers at Iran-backed armed teams after three of its troopers had been killed in a drone assault in northeastern Jordan close to the Syrian border late Sunday.
It is the primary lethal strike towards U.S. forces since Israel launched an indiscriminate battle on Gaza in retaliation to the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion and marks a serious escalation in tensions which have engulfed the Middle East.
“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,” President Joe Biden stated in a press release.
“Have no doubt – we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” he stated.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations stated in a press release on Monday that Tehran was not concerned within the assault.
“Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the U.S. base,” the mission stated in a press release printed by the state news company IRNA.
It added: “There is a conflict between U.S. forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks.”
Biden requested for a second of silence for the three killed service members throughout a marketing campaign occasion in South Carolina, including: “We shall respond.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin echoed that menace. He and different senior officers briefed Biden earlier within the day on the assault.
At least 34 personnel had been injured within the assault, however that quantity is anticipated to alter as extra folks search care, in keeping with a press release from U.S. Central Command. Eight personnel had been evacuated from Jordan for higher-level care, however are in secure situation.
Fears of wider battle
Two U.S. officers stated the drone struck close to the barracks early within the morning, which might clarify the excessive variety of casualties.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Iran-backed armed teams, claimed assaults on three bases, together with one on the Jordan-Syria border.
The assault is prone to fan fears of wider battle within the Middle East, the place battle broke out in Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion of Israel killed 1,140 folks.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza, nonetheless, has killed over 26,000 Palestinians, in keeping with the native Health Ministry.
Since then, U.S. forces have come beneath assault greater than 150 instances by Iran-backed teams in Iraq and Syria, inflicting at the very least 70 casualties earlier than Sunday’s assault, most of them traumatic mind accidents.
U.S. warships have additionally been fired at by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, who’re recurrently attacking business ships passing by way of Red Sea waters off Yemen’s coast.
While the United States has so far maintained an official line that Washington just isn’t at battle within the area, it has been focusing on the Iran-backed teams in Iraq and Syria and finishing up strikes towards Yemen’s Houthi army capabilities.
Biden beneath strain
Biden’s Republican opponents seized on the assault as proof of the Democratic president’s failure to confront Iran as its proxies strike towards U.S. forces throughout the area.
“The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces … Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward,” stated Republican Sen. Tom Cotton in a press release.
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell stated Biden’s inaction was emboldening enemies of the United States within the Middle East.
“The time to start taking this aggression seriously was long before more brave Americans lost their lives,” McConnell stated.
A senior official with the Iran-backed Palestinian resistance group Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, straight tied the assault to Israel’s marketing campaign in Gaza.
“The killing of three American soldiers is a message to the U.S. administration that unless the killing of innocents in Gaza stops, it must confront the entire nation,” he advised Reuters.
“The continued American-Zionist aggression on Gaza is capable of exploding the situation in the region.”
The U.S. army stated the assault occurred at a base in northeastern Jordan, close to the Syrian border. It didn’t title the bottom, however an individual conversant in the matter recognized it as Tower 22 in Jordan.
U.S. army exercise in Jordan is usually a delicate situation, notably at a time of heightened tensions because of Israel’s battle on Gaza, due to rising concern in Jordan in regards to the battle spreading.
The Jordanian authorities stated solely that the assault occurred at an “advanced post” alongside its border with Syria.
Late final yr, Amman requested Washington to deploy Patriot air protection programs to bolster its border protection.
It has requested extra assist to deal with drones utilized in a raging multibillion-dollar drug battle alongside the border with Syria, which Amman blames on pro-Iranian forces who maintain sway in southern Syria.
The kingdom has a whole bunch of U.S. trainers and holds in depth workouts with U.S. troops all year long.
Source: www.dailysabah.com