Three US service members killed, 34 wounded in Jordan drone attack linked to Iran By Reuters

By Kanishka Singh and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Three U.S. service members had been killed and dozens wounded throughout an unmanned aerial drone assault on U.S. forces stationed in northeastern Jordan close to the Syrian border, President Joe Biden and U.S. officers mentioned on Sunday.

Biden blamed Iran-backed teams for the assault.

“Whereas we’re nonetheless gathering the information 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.

At the very least 34 personnel had been being evaluated for doable traumatic mind damage, a U.S. official instructed Reuters.

“Whereas we’re nonetheless gathering information, that is most assuredly the work of an Iranian-backed militia group,” a second official mentioned.

The deaths marked the primary fatalities of U.S. troops within the area since warfare 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 warfare broke out in Gaza after 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.

Whereas the US has so far maintained an official line that Washington is just not at warfare within the area, it has made strikes in opposition to targets of Yemen’s Houthi teams which have been attacking industrial vessels within the Pink Sea.

“We’ll stick with it their dedication to struggle terrorism. And have little doubt – we’ll maintain all these accountable to account at a time and in a fashion of our selecting,” Biden mentioned in his assertion launched by the White Home.