{"id":17914,"date":"2024-01-29T07:21:27","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T07:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=17914"},"modified":"2024-01-29T07:24:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T07:24:13","slug":"three-us-troops-killed-34-injured-in-jordan-drone-strike-linked-to-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2024\/01\/three-us-troops-killed-34-injured-in-jordan-drone-strike-linked-to-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Three US troops killed, 34 injured in Jordan drone strike linked to Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MONITORING (SW) – Three U.S. service members were killed and at least 34 wounded in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants on U.S. troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden and U.S. officials said on Sunday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is the first deadly strike against U.S. forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October, and marks a major escalation in tensions that have engulfed the Middle East.<\/p>\n

“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 a statement.<\/p>\n

“Have no doubt – we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” he said.<\/p>\n

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday that Tehran was not involved in the attack.<\/p>\n

“Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the U.S. base,” the mission said in a statement published by the state news agency IRNA.<\/p>\n

It added: “There is a conflict between U.S. forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks.”<\/p>\n

Biden asked for a moment of silence for the three killed service members during a campaign event in South Carolina, adding: “We shall respond.”<\/p>\n

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin echoed that threat. He and other senior officials briefed Biden earlier in the day on the attack.<\/p>\n

At least 34 personnel were injured in the attack, but that number is expected to change as more people seek care, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command. Eight personnel were evacuated from Jordan for higher level care, but are in stable condition.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Satellite view of the U.S. military outpost known as Tower 22, in Rukban, Rwaished District, Jordan October 12, 2023 in this handout image. Planet Labs PBC\/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two U.S. officials said the drone struck near the barracks early in the morning, which could explain the high number of casualties.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization of hardline Iran-backed militant groups, claimed attacks on three bases, including one on the Jordan-Syria border.<\/p>\n

The attack is likely to fan fears of wider conflict in the Middle East, where war broke out in Gaza after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 which killed 1,200. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 26,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

Since then, U.S. forces have come under attack more than 150 times by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, causing at least 70 casualties prior to Sunday’s attack, most of them traumatic brain injuries.<\/p>\n

U.S. warships have also been fired at by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, who are regularly attacking commercial ships passing through Red Sea waters off Yemen’s coast.<\/p>\n

While the United States has thus far maintained an official line that Washington is not at war in the region, it has been retaliating against the Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria and carrying out strikes against Yemen’s Houthi military capabilities.<\/p>\n

SOURCE: REUTERS<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONITORING (SW) – Three U.S. service members were killed and at least 34 wounded in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants on U.S. troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden and U.S. officials said on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":17921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[990,1,984,978,976,982,5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-0_swnen","category-news","category-security","category-politics","category-international","category-politics_","category-headline"],"views":39,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17920,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17914\/revisions\/17920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}