Three US service members have 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 stated on Sunday.
Biden blamed Iran-backed teams for the assault.
“While we’re nonetheless gathering the details of this assault, we all know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant teams working in Syria and Iraq,” Biden stated in a press release.
At least 34 personnel have been being evaluated for attainable traumatic mind harm, a US official instructed Reuters.
“While we’re nonetheless gathering details, that is most assuredly the work of an Iranian-backed militia group,” a second official stated.
The deaths marked the primary fatalities of US troops within the area for the reason that conflict started in Gaza. Biden stated the assault occurred on Saturday night time.
The assault is a serious escalation of the already tense scenario within the Middle East, the place conflict broke out in Gaza after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7 which killed 1,200. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 26,000 Palestinians, based on the native well being ministry.
While the United States has so far maintained an official line that Washington just isn’t at conflict within the area, it has made strikes in opposition to targets of Yemen’s Houthi teams which were attacking industrial vessels within the Red Sea.
“We will keep on their dedication to battle terrorism. And have little question – we’ll maintain all these accountable to account at a time and in a fashion of our selecting,” Biden stated in his assertion launched by the White House.