From left, Spc. Breonna Alexandria Moffett, Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders was identified as one of three soldiers killed in a drone strike in Jordan.
US Army Reserve Command
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US Army Reserve Command
From left, Spc. Breonna Alexandria Moffett, Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders was identified as one of three soldiers killed in a drone strike in Jordan.
US Army Reserve Command
The Pentagon on Monday released the identities of three US service members killed in a drone strike in northeastern Jordan.
The three were identified as Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, Carrollton, Ga.; SPC. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, Waycross, Ga.; And Spc. Breonna Alexandria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia.
These three were all reserves assigned to the 718th Engineer Company at Fort Moore, Georgia.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced on Monday that the number of people injured in the attack had risen to more than 40.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Biden is committed to holding those behind the drone strike accountable, adding that the attack was “escalating” and “requires a response.”
But Kirby also stressed that “we are not expecting a war with Iran,” despite U.S. officials saying Kirby played a role in the attack.
“We will do it on our own schedule, in our own time, and we will do it in the manner chosen by the President as commander in chief,” he said.
The attack in Jordan is the first deadly attack on US forces in the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas confrontation following Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. The US is attempting to control the conflict and prevent it from spreading further. Area.
What happened?
Aerial drones struck container housing units at Tower 22, a remote base in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border early Sunday.
Tower 22 supports the al-Tanf Garrison in south-eastern Syria, where US special operations have long worked with other countries to combat Islamic State militants. About 350 US Army and Air Force personnel are deployed at the base.
Central Command said at least eight service members were flown out to Jordan to receive high-level care, but are in stable condition.
A U.S. official told NPR that the service members’ injuries varied, with many suffering from traumatic brain injury. There were also reports of spinal cord injuries and at least one case of shrapnel wounds.
The US military is under investigation after reports that air defenses at Tower 22 may have mistaken an enemy drone for an American drone operating around the time and level of the attacker. This confusion was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Who was behind the attack?
The Islamic resistance in Iraq, a coalition of militias backed by Iran, took credit for the attack. The group described it as revenge for America’s military presence in the region and the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza.
The Islamic resistance in Iraq claimed to have attacked a total of four military targets on Sunday – three of which are US bases in Syria and on the Syria-Jordan border, and one belonging to Israel. There has been no confirmation of other attacks from US officials.
According to the state-run IRNA news agency, Iranian officials have denied that their country was involved in the drone attack.
But US officials say they are confident that Iran played a role in the attack, although it is too early to say whether the attack was directed by Iran.
“We know Iran is behind this,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said at a press conference on Monday. “Iran continues to arm these groups with the weapons they need to launch these attacks.”
Why are there US troops in the Middle East?
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the service members as “brave Americans” who were deployed to northeastern Jordan to “work toward the permanent defeat of ISIS.”
“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,” he said in a statement Sunday.
About 900 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq, primarily to help fight ISIS. Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Iran-linked forces have carried out more than 140 attacks in those two countries.
Earlier this month, Central Command said a “number” of US military personnel were evaluated for traumatic brain injuries after Iran-backed groups launched multiple ballistic missiles and rockets at an airbase in western Iraq. It said most of the missiles were intercepted but at least one Iraqi service member was injured.
In December, a drone strike in northern Iraq injured three US service members, one seriously. In response, the US said it carried out several airstrikes against facilities used by terrorists.
NPR’s Tom Bowman, Jane Arraf and Peter Kenyon contributed reporting.
