[Cheonji Daily News Washington=Reporter Eloise Lee], January 31 —
An enemy drone strike on U.S. forces in Jordan killed three American soldiers, and wounded more than 40 others— but how did the drone slip past Army defenses?
The Pentagon said a desert base near the Jordan-Syrian border known as Tower 22 was attacked by an aerial drone that bombed a facility housing U.S. service members on Sunday. The troops were deployed into the region to support Operation Inherent Resolve, part of an international coalition to defeat ISIS.
Initial reports suggested the drone was not intercepted because it was mistaken for an American drone.
According to the Associated Press, officials speaking on condition of anonymity cited a preliminary report that a friendly drone was returning to the base at the same time an enemy drone flew in at a low altitude, bypassing security.
“I can’t corroborate those accounts by U.S. officials,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby when asked to confirm their validity.
“The Department of Defense is, as you would expect them to do, going through all the forensics here to figure out exactly what happened and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
The White House has not confirmed which group exactly is responsible for the drone attack, but President Biden called out Iran’s involvement by proxy.
“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,” the President said in a statement.
The Iranian foreign ministry has denied involvement.
“They support these groups, they resource them, they provide them weapons, they train them. They certainly aren’t discouraging these attacks,” countered Kirby when asked about Iran’s denial.
“There is a responsibility that appropriately needs to be laid at the feet of leaders in Tehran,” he concluded.
There have been dozens of strikes on U.S. forces in the Middle East since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, reportedly in retaliation against the U.S. for supporting Israel. This week’s attack is the first to have claimed American lives.
Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, were identified by the Department of Defense.
In the wake of the tragedy, Specialist Kennedy Sanders and Specialist Breonna Moffett have been posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant, announced the U.S. Army Reserves.