The United States on Wednesday (January 31, 2024) said an umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq was responsible for the drone attack in Jordan that killed three American service members.
“We believe that the — the attack in Jordan was — was planned, resourced, and facilitated by an umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which contains multiple groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Joe Biden’s reaction to Jordan episode
US President Joe Biden earlier said he has decided how to respond to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers, an episode that may potentially further escalate the tension in the Middle East.
Without elaborating his remark, the President was quoted as saying by BBC: “I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East.”
“I do hold them [Iran] responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it,” he said.
Iran-backed militia group suspends anti-US operations
Meanwhile, an Iran-backed militia group that the US blamed for the attack has said it suspended anti-US operations.
The Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah have suspended their operations against the US occupation forces in Syria and Iraq, the group’s Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said as quoted by Mehr News Agency.
Three US troops were killed in an unmanned drone attack in Jordan
At least three US service members were killed in a drone attack on a US base near Jordan’s border with Syria on Sunday (January 28, 2024), US Central Command confirmed.
“As an update to the earlier announcement, the number of U.S. personnel with injuries has increased to at least 34 service members, but we expect this number to fluctuate as service members continue to seek follow-on care,” read a statement issued by the US Central Command.
“Eight personnel that received injuries required evacuation from Jordan to higher level care, but they are in stable condition. All other service members are being fully evaluated for follow-on care,” the statement said.
This is the first time that US army personnel were killed in a strike in the region since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7.
The war started after Hamas members targeted Israel.
Officials earlier told the BBC that US sites in Iraq and Syria had been attacked at least 165 times since October 17.
