Three US soldiers are killed and 34 are wounded in drone strike on Jordan outpost in major escalation by Iran-backed terrorists
The drone attack late Saturday hit a base in the northeast part of the country. Iran and its proxies are the main suspects
By Alex Hammer
Daily Mail
Jan 28, 2024
The drone attack late Saturday night impacted a US outpost located in the northeast part of Jordan known as Tower 42, near the Syria border, and resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers and at least 34 other injuries
Three American soldiers have been killed in suicide drone strike on a US base in Jordan, The Pentagon has confirmed.
The drone attack late Saturday impacted a base in the northeast part of the country near the Syria border, and resulted in at least 34 other injuries.
As of Sunday morning, Iran - the main backer of anti-Israel group Hezbollah - and its proxies are the main suspects, officials said.
Meanwhile, conflict in the wartorn region continues to escalate, with the war in Gaza still ongoing, and Iran currently exchanging airstrikes with US ally Pakistan.
The US on Sunday issued a statement mourning the loss of the slain servicemembers - the latest casualty as the unrest in the Middle East persists.
'Today, America’s heart is heavy,' wrote President Joe Biden Sunday morning from the White House, before confirming the strike on the small US outpost known as Tower 42 had been successful.
'Last night, three U.S. service members were killed - and many wounded - during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border.
'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,' the commander-in-chief continued.
'Jill and I join the families and friends of our fallen - and Americans across the country - in grieving the loss of these warriors in this despicable and wholly unjust attack.'
He went on to add how the three fallen soldiers 'embodied the very best of our nation' - them being 'unwavering in their bravery... unflinching in their duty... [and] unbending in their commitment to our country.'
He declared they died 'risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, and our allies and partners with whom we stand in the fight against terrorism.'
'It is a fight we will not cease,' Biden, 81, proclaimed.
President Biden on Sunday said the soldiers died 'risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, and our allies and partners with whom we stand in the fight against terrorism.' Pictured: US Marines monitor Eager Lion multinational military maneuvers in Quweira, a city in Jordan located closer to Israel
An outspoken enemy of both the US and Israel, Iran currently trains the Hezbollah militia group (seen here in Baghdad in 2019), which for years has sought to join the Palestinian cause. The group has not been named as responsible for Saturday's attack
While not identifying the militants responsible, the statement confirmed the strike was the work of anti-Western jihadists operating somewhere in the region.
Both countries, as of Sunday, boast a bevy of Iran-aligned militias, including Hezbollah and several other Shia militant groups.
Since the Syrian War in 2011, Iran has also backed multiple Palestinian terror groups based in Gaza, and various terrorist groups in Bahrain and elsewhere across the Middle East.
Since the war - which served to intensify Iranian economic, political, and religious operations in the country - Iran has openly used its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to fund these terrorist organizations.
In 2019, the nuclear-capable country acknowledged the involvement of the IRGC-QF in the Iraq and Syria conflicts, spurring the US to designate the Iranian army as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Iran has also been known regional militant and proxy groups to achieve deniability in such strikes, as well as shield it from accountability for its destabilizing policies.
The country is also currently embroiled in an artillery-laden game of chicken with its own neighbor in Pakistan, which is one of NATO's main allies in the Middle East.
The country is also currently embroiled in an artillery-laden game of chicken with its own neighbor Pakistan, which is one of NATO's main allies in the Middle East. Pictured: Smoke billowing over the Iranian city Saravan last Thursday
Both countries, as of Sunday, boast a bevy of Iran-aligned militias, including Hezbollah and several other Shia militant groups including the Houthi, seen here as Yemenis recently militarily trained by the movement hold their guns and chant slogans in an armed popular parade before heading to Israel in the Gaza Strip to fight on December 2
Just last week, Pakistan's air force launched retaliatory airstrikes on two alleged militant positions in Iran, days after an Iranian airstrike killed two children in their own country.
The air attacks in Sistan and Baluchestan province killed at least seven - and added to tensions already present between the two nations and the region as a whole.
They also added to a death toll in the Middle East that is well into the thousands since the conflict in Gaza broke out in October.
A few weeks ago, Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Tehran because of Tuesday's strikes by Iran inside Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province. Iran claimed it targeted bases for a militant Sunni separatist group.
It drew strong condemnation from Pakistan, which denounced the attack as a 'blatant violation' of its airspace and said it killed two children.
If Marhamati's account of the casualties is correct, the country duplicated Pakistan's minor-killing offense at least two fold.
As Iranians continue to assess the full scope of the attack, the war more than a thousand miles west in Israel continues to rage.
Another 1,000 miles southwest, four fresh strikes were carried out by the US on Yemen, targeting anti-ship ballistic missiles used by another rebel group backed by Iran, the Houthi.
Earlier in the month, shortly after Iran's attack on Pakistani soil, the group warned that British and American ships in the Red Sea have now become 'legitimate targets', given the state of the greater conflict
The Houthis have since targeted ships in the region sporadically, with the attacks ramping up recently.
Another 1,000 miles southwest, four fresh strikes were carried out by the US on Yemen , targeting anti-ship ballistic missiles used by the Houthis, another group backed by Iran that is against US involvement in the region
Two weeks ago, shortly after Iran's attack on Pakistani soil (seen here), the Iran-backed group warned that British and American ships in the Red Sea have now become 'legitimate targets', following joint strikes against military sites run by another group backed by Iran, the Houthis
The string of incidents have fueled concerns about the danger of the Israeli offensive sparking a wider conflict and a simultaneous rise in gas prices, as it is also one of the most important routes for oil and liquefied natural gas shipments in the Middle East
In response, the US launched Operation Prosperity Guardian - an international coalition to safeguard the region, with many other countries, including Spain and the UK, taking part.
A reported 1,200 commercial ships have passed through the sea since the operation was launched on December, with none hit by drone or missile strikes until the first phase of the Sunday strike, when militants attacked the Hangzhou with several missiles.
US Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper on Friday had already warned that even with the taskforce, the Houthis do not seem set on ending their 'reckless' attacks, after targeting more than 100 ships in the Red Sea since November.
The Sunday attack shows the group's continued resolve to support Hamas, which Israel recently pledged to continue to try to eradicate.
The incidents have fueled concerns about the danger of the Israeli offensive sparking a wider conflict and a simultaneous rise in gas prices, as it is also one of the most important routes for oil and liquefied natural gas shipments in the Middle East.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Navy for comment.
Meanwhile, on Sunday the official representative of the Jordanian Cabinet of Ministers denied that the Saturday strike occurred in the country at all, saying it instead happened at a well-known US military base at Tanf in Syria, not on Jordanian territory.
The US has yet to confirm those claims, but has issued statements citing American intelligence that indicate otherwise.
The military branches the soldiers belonged to, as of Sunday, have yet to be specified.
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