A drone attack on a small US outpost in Jordan has left three American service members dead and at least 25 others injured.
The attack took place at Tower 22 in Jordan near the border with Syria on Sunday, marking the first US troops to have been killed in the region since the beginning of the Gaza war in early October.
In a statement, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that three American soldiers were killed and 25 injured in a one-way drone attack that “impacted at a base in northeast Jordan.”
“On January 28, three US service members were killed and 25 injured from a one-way attack UAS that impacted at a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border.
The CENTCOM said, in accordance with DoD policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.
A US official told Reuters news agency that at least 34 service members were being examined for possible traumatic brain injury.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq released a statement claiming responsibility for the drone attack on Al-Tanf base at the Syria-Jordan border.
In December, US officials said that military bases housing American troops in Iraq and Syria had been attacked at least 97 times since October 17.
A message to US: Hamas
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said the attack sent a clear message to the United States.
“The killing of three American soldiers is a message to the American administration that unless the killing of innocent people in Gaza stops, it must confront the entire Ummah,” Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas spokesperson, said in a statement.
“The continuation of the American-Zionist aggression against Gaza is capable of setting the entire region ablaze,” he added.
Islamic Jihad: Natural, legitimate response to US presence in region
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also reacted to the attack while condemning the US administration’s warning that it would lead to escalation of situation in the region.
“The operation that targeted American forces came as a natural and legitimate response to the US presence as an occupying force in our region,” the Palestinian movement said.
It added that the operation was also a response to the United States’ “shameless support” for the genocide waged by the Israeli regime “against our people in the Gaza Strip for nearly four months, which the American administration leads and provides cover for at all levels.”
The latest attack comes amid escalating tensions in the region as Israel continues its brutal war against the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed more than 26,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
