OAN’s James Meyers
9:17 AM – Monday, January 29, 2024
President Joe Biden vowed retaliation after three American service members were killed by an Iranian-backed drone strike in Jordan on Sunday.
Biden spoke on the conflict during a speech in South Carolina on Sunday, holding a moment of silence for the killed U.S. soldiers.
“We had a tough day last night in the Middle East. We lost three brave souls in an attack on one of our bases,” Biden said.
The tragedy also resulted in 34 other service members being wounded and is expected to cause more United States involvement in the Middle East. This comes after the U.S. got involved in the Israel-Hamas war, which was in response to Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel on October 7th.
Additionally, eight of the injured 34 were evacuated, but are in stable condition, Centcom said on Sunday.
The drone strike marks the first deaths of U.S. military members since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
However, in response to the strikes, a spokesperson for the Iranian mission for the United Nations said Sunday, “Iran has nothing to do with the attacks in questions. The conflict has been initiated by the United States military against resistance groups in Iraq and Syria; and such operations are reciprocal between them.”
The Biden Administration’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also condemned the Iranian attack, saying that “the president and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests.”
According to the White House National Security Council, multiple service members were treated for serious wounds from shrapnel and were also screened for traumatic brain injuries.
The strike took place at the Tower 22 outpost, which supports military operations across the border at the U.S. base at al-Tanf in Syria and also helps the Pentagon’s advise-and-assist mission for the Jordanian military.
The last attack of this magnitude took place in the bombing outside of the Kabul, Afghanistan airport in August 2021, after the Biden Administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.
The bombing claimed the lives of 13 U.S. troops and over 180 Afghan citizens.
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