Three US soldiers die in an attack in Jordan
It was John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, who said the US was not seeking war. He also said the attack that killed the soldiers was an escalation and required a response.
Kirby stated that American President Joe Biden would respond to Iran's attack and that this response would be done in a “rational” manner.
“We know that (the attack) was carried out by Iranbacked radical fighter groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Biden said, Sunday (28). In addition, the US President promised that he would “hold all those responsible accountable when and how we see fit.”
According to the AFP news agency, the White House is still collecting evidence and evaluating the incident.
Although the deaths have raised fears of an escalation of conflict in the Middle East, the White House spokesman said the US government was not interested in expanding the war in the region.
Drone strike kills three US soldiers on JordanianSyrian border
Denying links to the attack, Foreign Ministry spokesman Naser Kanaani called the allegations baseless.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not view the expansion of the conflict in the region positively,” Kanaani said in a statement on Sunday (28). He also said that the country's government was “not involved in the decisions of the resistance groups.”
No one has claimed the attack so far, although the socalled Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on Sunday (28) it had launched three drone strikes against bases in Syria, including near the border with Jordan.
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The American Central Command (Centcom) reported on Sunday that an attack hit a logistics support base in Tower 22 in northeastern Jordan, injuring at least 34 military personnel eight of whom had to be evacuated from the country.
Nearly 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel are stationed at the base, performing “a variety of critical support functions,” including for the international coalition against the Islamic State extremist group.
According to the US Department of Defense, the country's armed forces and their allies in Iraq and Syria have been the target of more than 150 attacks since midOctober. This is a direct result of the conflict in Gaza between Israel, an American ally, and the Iranianbacked Hamas.
Jordanian government spokesman Muhanad Mubaidin said that “the terrorist attack was targeted at an advanced position on the Syrian border” and that it would be a blow to American troops “working with Jordan to counter terrorism and the border to secure”.
The governments of Bahrain and Egypt also condemned the attack.