#BidenUS #shallrespond #drone
President Biden speaks at a "Sunday Lunch" event at Brookland Baptist Banquet Center while paying tribute to three American soldiers killed in a drone strike in northeast Jordan on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. Brookland Baptist Church, West Columbia, S.C., Sunday, January 28, 2024. COLUMBIA, S.C. — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the United States will “respond” after three American soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded in an overnight drone strike in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border. Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for first deaths in United States since start of Israel-Hamas war, following months of attacks by such groups on American forces in Middle East. After the moment of silence, Biden added, "We will respond, too." Due to risk of increased military tension in region, US officials were working to pinpoint person responsible for attack, but it was assessed that one of several Iranian-backed groups was behind attack. Biden said in a written statement that United States will "hold accountable all those responsible, at the time and in manner we choose." "We will take all necessary steps to defend the United States, our troops and our interests," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. Iran-backed fighters in eastern Syria have begun evacuating their positions, fearing US airstrikes, according to Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet. He told The Associated Press that these areas were the strongholds of Mayadeen and Boukamal. US Central Command said at least 34 soldiers were injured by the one-way attack drone, with eight soldiers flying from Jordan for follow-up. The large unmanned aerial vehicle hit a logistics support base in Jordan known as Tower 22. This base, located along the Syrian border, is largely used by troops involved in visory and assistance mission to Jordanian forces. Central Command said about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel are deployed to the base. The three people killed and most of those injured were Army soldiers, according to several U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet publicly released. The small facility, which Jordan has not disclosed to the public, includes US engineering, aviation, logistics and security troops. Austin said the troops were deployed there "to work towards the permanent defeat of ISIS." Three officials said the drone crashed near soldiers' sleeping quarters, explaining the high death toll. The US military base at Al-Tanf in Syria is located just 20 kilometers north of Tower 22. The facility in Jordan provides a critical logistics hub for U.S. forces in Syria, including those at Al-Tanf near the borders. Iraq, Syria and Jordan intersect. In a statement to Jordan's state-owned Petra news agency, the country "condemned the terrorist attack" targeting US soldiers. The report stated that drone attack targeted "an outpost on the Syrian border" and that no Jordanian soldiers were injured in attack. "Jord
