Key Points
- US President Joe Biden has blamed an unmanned drone attack against US forces on Iran-backed groups.
- The attack killed three soldiers — the first US troop fatalities since the start of the war in Gaza.
- Around 3,000 US troops are typically stationed in Jordan, with US forces using the area as a base of operations.
Three United States service members have been killed and dozens are feared wounded after an unmanned aerial drone attack US forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden and US officials say.
Biden blamed Iran-backed groups for the attack, the first deadly strike against US forces since and sent shock waves throughout 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," Biden said in a statement.
"Have no doubt - we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing," he said.
Biden later asked for a moment of silence for the three killed service members during a campaign event in South Carolina.
"We shall respond," he said.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin echoed that threat.
"Iran-backed militias are responsible for these continued attacks on U.S. forces, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing," he said in a statement.
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows a military base known as Tower 22 in northeastern Jordan. Source: AP / Planet Labs PBC
Eight personnel were evacuated from Jordan for higher-level care and were in stable condition.
Two US officials said the drone struck near the barracks early in the morning.
Who carried out the attack?
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organisation of Iran-aligned Shia militant groups, claimed attacks on three bases, including one on the Jordan-Syria border.
"We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing," Biden said in his statement released by the White House.
A senior official with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, directly tied the attack to .
"The killing of three American soldiers is a message to the US administration that unless the killing of innocents in Gaza stops, it must confront the entire nation," he told Reuters.
"The continued American-Zionist aggression on Gaza is capable of exploding the situation in the region."
US military activity in Jordan can be a sensitive issue, particularly at a time of heightened tensions of the .
A person familiar with the matter identified the US base in Jordan that was attacked as Tower 22.
A Jordanian government spokesman told state TV that the militants targeted the US al-Tanf base in Syria — outside Jordanian territory.
What to expect after the attack?
The attack is a major escalation of the already tense situation in the Middle East, where war broke out in Gaza after Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October which killed 1,200. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 26,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry.
Since then, US 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.
US warships have also been fired at by , who are regularly attacking commercial ships passing through Red Sea waters off Yemen's coast.
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.
Republican opponents of Biden seized on the attack as evidence of the Democratic president's failure to confront Iran as its proxies strike against US forces across the region.
"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," said Republican Senator Tom Cotton in a statement.
US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Biden's inaction was emboldening enemies of the United States in the Middle East.
"The time to start taking this aggression seriously was long before more brave Americans lost their lives," McConnell said.
