Jordan condemns attack on US troops on borders with Syria

AMMAN — Jordan on Sunday condemned the “terrorist” attack on US troops stationed on an “advanced position” on the borders with Syria.

Minister of Government Communications Muhannad Mubaidin said that three US troops and several others were injured in the drone attack, extending condolences to the United States and families of the victims.

He said no Jordanian troops were injured in the attack.

Without giving further details, Mubaidin said that the US troops were stationed on an “advanced position” very close to the borders with Syria.

He added that the American troops there are cooperating with the Jordanian Armed Forces in combating terrorism and securing the Kingdom’s borders with Syria.

The minister said that Jordan is cooperating with its partners, including the US, in securing its north-eastern borders with Syria and combating drugs and arms smuggling from the war-torn country

The US army said earlier on Sunday that three troops were killed and others were injured in a drone attack in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, according to AFP.

“On January 28, three US service members were killed and 25 injured from a one-way attack [drone] that impacted at a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border,” AFP quoted the US Central Command as saying in a statement, referring to a drone.

President Joe Biden blamed Iran-backed militants and vowing to hold the perpetrators to account.

“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,” Biden said in a statement on the attack, according to AFP.

“We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” the president added.

US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in more than 150 attacks since mid-October, according to the Pentagon, and Washington has carried out retaliatory strikes in both countries.

Many of the attacks on US personnel have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.

On Sunday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it targeted US personnel with drones at three locations in Syria, including two bases near where the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan meet, but it was not immediately clear if the group was referring to the attack that killed the American troops.