Biden vows response after Americans killed by drone strikes

Columbia, South Carolina: US President Joe Biden says his military will respond after three American troops were killed and dozens more were injured in an overnight drone strike in north-east Jordan near the Syrian border.

Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the first US fatalities after months of strikes by such groups against American forces across the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

US President Joe Biden has vowed a response to strikes that killed American military personnel in Jordan.Credit: AP

Biden, who was travelling in South Carolina, asked for a moment of silence during an appearance at a Baptist church’s banquet hall.

“We had a tough day last night in the Middle East. We lost three brave souls in an attack on one of our bases,” he said. After the moment of silence, Biden added, “and we shall respond”.

With an increasing risk of military escalation in the region, US officials were working to conclusively identify the precise group responsible for the attack, but they have assessed that one of several Iranian-backed groups was behind it.

Biden said in a written statement that the United States “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing”. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said “we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests”.

Iran-backed fighters in east Syria began evacuating their posts, fearing US airstrikes, according to Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet.

According to a US official, the number of troops injured by the one-way attack drone rose to at least 34. Another official, who also 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.

The small installation, which Jordan does not publicly disclose, includes US engineering, aviation, logistics and security troops. Austin said the troops were deployed there “to work for the lasting defeat of ISIS”. Three officials said the drone struck near the troops’ sleeping quarters, which they said explained the high casualty count.

The US military base at al-Tanf in Syria is just 20 kilometres north of Tower 22. The Jordanian installation provides a critical logistical hub for US forces in Syria, including those at al-Tanf, which is near where the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan intersect.

In a statement on Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency, the country “condemned the terrorist attack” that targeted the US troops. That report described the drone strike as targeting “an outpost on the border with Syria” and said it did not wound any Jordanian troops.

“Jordan will continue to counter terrorism and the smuggling of drugs and weapons across the Syrian border into Jordan, and will confront with firmness and determination anyone who attempts to attack the security of the kingdom,” the statement attributed to Muhannad Mubaidin, a government spokesman, said.

US troops long have used Jordan, a kingdom bordering Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Saudi Arabia and Syria, as a basing point. Some 3000 American troops typically are stationed across Jordan, but the number at Tower 22 wasn’t immediately known and isn’t routinely disclosed.

Since the war in Gaza began October 7, Iranian-backed militias have struck American military installations in Iraq more than 60 times and in Syria more than 90 times, with a mix of drones, rockets, mortars and ballistic missiles.

This satellite image shows a military base known as Tower 22 in north-eastern Jordan.Credit: Planet Labs PBC

The attack was the first targeting American troops in Jordan during the Israel-Hamas war and the first to result in the loss of American lives. Scores of US personnel have been wounded, including some with traumatic brain injuries, during the attacks.

The militias have said that their strikes are in retaliation for Washington’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza and that they aim to push US forces out of the region.

The US in recent months has struck targets in Iraq, Syria and Yemen to respond to attacks on American forces in the region and to deter Iran-backed Houthi rebels from continuing to threaten commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

AP

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