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Three US service members have been killed by a drone attack on a military base carried out by “radical Iran-backed militant groups” near the Syria border, the White House said on Sunday.
President Joe Biden said the US would “hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing”.
US defence officials said a further 25 service members were injured in the attack at a military base in north-eastern Jordan. A spokesman for Jordan’s government told public broadcaster al-Mamlaka that the attack happened at the US base at Al-Tanf on the Syrian side of the border.
The deaths mark the first time US troops have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began in Gaza.
The US and UK have been co-ordinating joint attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Iran-backed rebel group’s attacks on vessels sailing through the Red Sea, a critical shipping lane for global trade.
But the widening military effort has raised fears that the US and its allies could be drawn into a wider regional war.
US forces have also launched several strikes against Iranian-backed Iraqi militants in response to rocket and drone assaults on US troops in Syria and Iraq.
Houthi rebels have said their attacks were in response to Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip since it launched its war against Hamas in October. The Houthis have carried out more than 30 attacks on international and commercial vessels since mid-November.
This is a developing story . . .
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