Three US service members killed and ‘many’ injured in drone attack in Jordan, Biden says | US military

Three US service members were killed and many wounded during an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces stationed in north-eastern Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden said on Sunday, blaming Iran-backed groups for the attack.

“Many” service members were also wounded in the attack, Biden said in a statement.

“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,” Biden said.

They were the first US fatalities in months of strikes against American forces across the Middle East by Iranian-backed militias amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Biden said the US “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing”.

The attack took place in north-east Jordan, near the border with Syria. Some 3,000 American troops typically are stationed in Jordan.

Since Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza began, US troops in Iraq and Syria have faced drone and missile attacks on their bases. The attack on Jordan marks the first targeting American troops in Jordan during the war.