The US President, Joe Biden, stated that three US service members were killed, and others were injured in a drone attack on US forces stationed in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, accusing Iran-backed groups of carrying out the attack.

Biden added in his statement on Sunday, January 28, “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.” 

“We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism and will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” Biden added.

The American CNN network said that officials reported three US soldiers were killed, and about 30 were injured in an attack on a US forces site on the Jordan-Syria border.

A US official told Reuters that the number of casualties in the attack had risen, adding that about 34 individuals were being monitored for suspected potential brain injuries.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a US official saying that the attack occurred at night at “Tower 22,” a small site in Jordan near the Syrian border.

The al-Tanf US base, the only one on the border strip, is located at the triangle between Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.

This strike is the most significant for US forces in the region since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023.

The Associated Press quoted a US official saying, “A large drone hit the base in Jordan on the Syrian border,” indicating that “the base is used by forces participating in providing advice and assistance to Jordanian forces.”

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Tom Cotton stated in a press release that “The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces (…) Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander in chief.”

A Palestinian Hamas movement official, Sami Abu Zuhri, directly linked the attack with the Israeli campaign in Gaza.

He told Reuters, “The killing of three US soldiers is a message to the US administration that unless the killing of innocents in Gaza is halted, it must face the entire nation.”

The Minister of Government Communication and spokesperson for the Jordanian government, Muhannad Mubaydeen, denied that the attack targeting US forces had occurred inside Jordanian territory, asserting that the attack targeted the al-Tanf base in Syria.

Meanwhile, The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced in its statement yesterday that its forces in Iraq attacked four bases in Syria (al-Shaddadi, al-Rukban, al-Tanf) and the Zvulun naval base in northern Palestine, “in response to the massacres of the Zionist entity against the people of Gaza.”

On October 9, Iraqi politician Hadi al-Ameri, the leader of the politically and militarily influential Badr Organization close to Iran, threatened the Americans by saying, “If you interfere (in the escalation in Palestine), then we will intervene, and we will consider all American targets legitimate.”

On January 20, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced an attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq with several ballistic missiles, resulting in injuries among its soldiers.

CENTCOM stated through “X” that the attack was carried out by “Iran-supported militias,” noting that most of the missiles launched towards the base were intercepted and destroyed, while some missiles hit their targets.