The Middle East conflict entered a phase of even greater uncertainty. Three American soldiers were killed and at least 30 others injured in a drone attack on a small US outpost called Tower 22, located in Jordan, near the border with Syria.
This is the first American casualty reported since the conflict in the East began after the Hamas attack inside Israel.
Pending more details in the investigation, President Joe Biden attributed the attack to “radical militant groups backed by Iran operating in Syria and Iraq.” Paying tribute to the memory of the deceased, Biden promised in his statement a response to this attack.
“We will continue our commitment to fight terrorism. And, without a doubt, we will hold all those responsible accountable in the time and manner we choose,” he stressed.
Biden insisted on the three fallen: “They risked their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, our allies and our partners, with whom we are in the fight against terrorism.” And he reiterated that “it is a fight in which we will not stop.”
These three deaths are a significant escalation in an already more than precarious situation in that area. As of Friday, there had been 158 attacks against US and coalition forces, in a constant series of drone flights and rocket launches that had been unsuccessful in causing human casualties or causing serious damage to infrastructure. Washington and its allies have carried out several retaliatory actions, especially in the Red Sea against the Houthis, the Yemeni militia, in their desire to disrupt ship traffic on that important international trade route.
The attack also occurs while Israel and Hezbollah, another group allied to Tehran, have exchanged fire on the Lebanese border. This action comes when Iraq and the United States were waiting to open talks in which to specify the future presence of American forces in that country, which has requested the departure of international troops from its territory.
It was not clear how the air defenses at this Jordanian outpost had failed to intercept the flying object, in what is the first attack on Tower 22 since the start of this crisis.
Those responsible for the Pentagon, and Biden himself, constantly repeated that they do not want an increase in tension in the Middle East with the expansion of the regional war unleashed between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In statements prior to this attack, the US Chief of Staff, General CQ Brown, said on ABC that “the objective is to deter these groups and not enter into a further escalation of the conflict.”
But the death of these soldiers only increases the pressure on President Biden to respond forcefully, while confusion grows after the Hamas aggression that left 1,200 dead. That organization still holds more than 100 hostages. The various parties involved in the negotiations hoped for a truce of several days to exchange Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
These US military casualties are added to those of two Navy Seals who disappeared a few days ago in an operation to intercept weapons that Iran was sending to the Houthis.
