Three US service members killed and 25 injured in Iranian-backed drone attack in Jordan

Three United States service members were killed and 25 wounded by an Unmanned Aerial System attack on a base in Jordan, near the border with Syria, by Iranian-backed militias, the United States Central Command and White House announced.

President Joe Biden confirmed that Iranian-backed militias operating in Iraq or Syria were behind the attack, which occurred Saturday night. The attack marks a major escalation, being the first U.S. service members to be killed by the Iranian-backed militias since they began their attacks following the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War.

The deaths also mark the first U.S. service members killed in action since the 2021 Kabul airport bombing, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System.

“Today, America’s heart is heavy,” Biden said in a statement. “Last night, three U.S. service members were killed—and many wounded—during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border. While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq."