Three American soldiers have died in Syriaon the border with Jordan, in a bombing with a drone that has been claimed by pro-Iran militias in Iraq, in what marks the first deadly attack against US troops since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in October. These are the keys to the attack.

Who are responsible?

In a statement, US President Joe Biden attributed the attack to backed militias. by Iran operating in Syria and Iraq, although it did not precisely identify the group responsible. However, Iran denied this Monday its involvement in the attack and assures that they are politically motivated accusations.

Although Washington has not yet identified the perpetrators, the pro-Iran militia group EnduranceIslamic in Iraq This Sunday, he claimed responsibility for several attacks against positions in Syria and Iraq and assumed responsibility for the deadly attack against US troops.

According to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), the attack killed three soldiers, whose identities have not yet been released, and left at least 34 injured. Of the 34 injured, eight have suffered serious injuries and have had to be evacuated from Jordan to receive medical attention, although their condition is stable, CENTCOM detailed in a statement.

Where did the attack occur?

There are different versions about the exact location of the attack: the United States claims that it occurred at a military base in northeastern Jordan, near the border with Syria, while the Jordanian government maintains that it took place outside its territory and targeted a US base in Syria.

Jordan is one of the main US allies in the region, but the presence of hundreds of US troops in its territory is a sensitive issue because the majority of the Jordanian population rejects the aid that Washington is providing to Israel for its offensive on the Strip. from Gaza.

As indicated by CENTCOM in a statement, the attack occurred against a military base in Jordan called ‘Tower 22‘, which is strategically located at the most northwestern point of Jordanian territory, where its borders meet those of Syria and Iraq.

At that base, there are some 350 US military personnel deployed whose mission is to achieve the “lasting defeat“of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), detailed CENTCOM. In addition, ‘Tower 22’ is located near another American military garrison called ‘Al Tanf’, located in Syria very near the border with Jordan and which, since 2016, has been key to operations against IS, as detailed by the International Crisis Group organization on its website.

The Jordanian Government assures that the attack occurred precisely against the base ‘Al Tanf’, contradicting the US version.

How will the United States respond?

Biden, who was campaigning in South Carolina this Sunday, has promised in a statement that those responsible will be held accountable. accounts “at the time and in the manner” that the United States chooses. Later, during an event at a church in South Carolina, Biden gave a speech to hundreds of parishioners in which he stated: “We had a difficult day last night in the Middle East. We lost three brave men in an attack on one of our bases”.

Afterwards, he asked a moment of silence and broke it with two words: “And we will respond.” With the imminence of a US response, various pro-Iran groups in eastern Syria are “relocating”, while several militias have deployed trucks with rocket launchers to counter possible US bombings, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported.

The death of three American soldiers further aggravates the already fragile situation in the Middle East, where tension has skyrocketed since the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, where 1,200 people lost their lives, and to which Israeli forces responded with a offensive in the Gaza Strip that has left more than 26,000 Palestinians dead.

Since the beginning of this conflict, pro-Iran militias in Iraq have carried out more than one hundred attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria, causing at least 70 injuries, mostly soldiers with traumatic brain injuries.

Additionally, Houthi rebels in Yemen, backed by Iran, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea. However, until now, none of these attacks had caused fatalities among the American ranks.