The Pentagon on Monday recognized the lifeless troopers as Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Ga.; Spec. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga.; and Spec. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Ga. The three troopers have been assigned to the 718th Engineer Firm, 926th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, an Military Reserve unit primarily based in Fort Moore, Ga.
The drone strike on the outpost in northeast Jordan close to its borders with Syria and Iraq, referred to as Tower 22, escalated hostilities within the area which have been mounting for the reason that Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel and the next warfare in Gaza.
Mr. Biden has vowed to retaliate, and he met for a second straight day on Monday together with his senior nationwide safety aides to debate doable targets in Syria, Iraq and Iran. Senior U.S. officers mentioned attacking Iran straight was much less doubtless, although the U.S. army has drawn up plans to strike Iranian army advisers and trainers in Iraq and Syria within the occasion that U.S. troops have been killed by Iran-backed militias within the Center East.
Protection Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, on his first day again to work on the Pentagon since he was hospitalized for problems following prostate most cancers, on Monday condemned the assaults and vowed retribution.
“Let me begin with my outrage and sorrow for the deaths of three courageous U.S. troops in Jordan and for the opposite troops who have been wounded,” Mr. Austin mentioned earlier than assembly with NATO’s secretary basic, Jens Stoltenberg. “The president and I can’t tolerate assaults on U.S. forces, and we’ll take all obligatory actions to defend the U.S. and our troops.”
The drone strike in Jordan underscored that the Iran-backed militias — whether or not in Iran or Syria, or the Houthis in Yemen — remained able to inflicting critical penalties on American troops regardless of the U.S. army’s efforts to weaken them and keep away from tumbling right into a wider battle, presumably with Iran itself.
American troops in Iraq and Syria, and now Jordan, have come beneath assault not less than 165 instances since October — 66 instances in Iraq, 98 instances in Syria and Sunday’s assault in Jordan, the Pentagon mentioned on Monday. Greater than 80 service members had suffered accidents, together with mind trauma, earlier than the newest salvo.
“We all know that Iran helps these teams,” John F. Kirby, a Nationwide Safety Council spokesman, mentioned on Monday. “We all know they useful resource them, we all know they practice them. We all know that they’re definitely not discouraging these assaults.”
However Mr. Kirby added, “The diploma to which they order and direct is one thing that intelligence analysts will have a look at.”
Pressed repeatedly at briefings with reporters on Monday about when and the way america would reply, Mr. Kirby and Ms. Singh declined to touch upon particular choices. They emphasised that the administration was in search of to avert a wider warfare within the area, at the same time as they blamed the assault for escalating tensions.
“We’re not on the lookout for a warfare with Iran,” Mr. Kirby mentioned. “However the assaults need to cease.”
For its half, Iran on Monday denied any hyperlink to the assault and blamed Washington for igniting tensions within the area.
About 350 Military and Air Pressure personnel are deployed to the Tower 22 border outpost. It serves as a logistics and resupply hub for the Al Tanf garrison close by in southeastern Syria, the place American troops work with native Syrian companions to combat remnants of the Islamic State.
The one-way assault drone hit close to the outpost’s residing quarters, inflicting accidents that ranged from minor cuts to mind trauma, a U.S. army official mentioned. Eight U.S. service members have been flown to Iraq for medical care, and three of these have been anticipated to be flown to Germany for much more superior remedy, Ms. Singh mentioned.
The troopers and airmen have been residing in containerized housing models, or CHU’s, Ms. Singh mentioned, basically aluminum containers a bit greater than a industrial transport container. They’ve linoleum flooring and cots or beds inside, and may be simply transported on vehicles.
“What was totally different about this assault is the place it landed,” Ms. Singh mentioned. “It was fairly early within the morning, so individuals have been truly of their beds when the drone impacted.”
