WASHINGTON: Three US service members had been killed and dozens wounded throughout an unmanned aerial drone assault on US forces stationed in northeastern Jordan close to the Syrian border, President Joe Biden and US officers mentioned on Sunday.
Biden blamed Iran-backed teams for the assault.
“Whereas we’re nonetheless gathering the info of this assault, we all know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant teams working in Syria and Iraq,” Biden mentioned in a press release.
No less than 34 personnel had been being evaluated for potential traumatic mind harm, a US official informed Reuters.
“Whereas we’re nonetheless gathering info, that is most assuredly the work of an Iranian-backed militia group,” a second official mentioned.
The deaths marked the primary fatalities of US troops within the area since struggle started in Gaza. Biden mentioned the assault occurred on Saturday night time.
The assault is a serious escalation of the already tense state of affairs within the Center East, the place struggle broke out in Gaza after Palestinian militant group Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct 7 which killed 1,200 individuals. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 26,000 Palestinians, based on the native well being ministry.
Whereas the USA has to date maintained an official line that Washington just isn’t at struggle within the area, it has made strikes in opposition to targets of Yemen’s Houthi teams which were attacking business vessels within the Pink Sea.
“We’ll stick with it their dedication to combat terrorism. And have little question – we are going to maintain all these accountable to account at a time and in a way of our selecting,” Biden mentioned in his assertion launched by the White Home.
