The identities of the 3 US soldiers killed in a drone attack in Jordan have been revealed
The three troops were deployed to back Operation Inherent Resolve, the Pentagon said.
The Pentagon on Monday identified the three U.S. soldiers who were killed in a drone strike over the weekend at a military base in Jordan that was allegedly carried out by an Iran-backed group.
They were identified as Sgt. William Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh during a news conference Monday.
“These three fallen heroes were deployed to Jordan in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and the international coalition working to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS,” Ms. Singh said during the briefing, referring to the terrorist group also known as Islamic State. “These brave Americans and their families are in our prayers, and the entire Department of Defense mourns their loss.”
She added that U.S. officials were “still assessing what happened and how a one way attack drone was able to impact the facility.”
President Joe Biden, in a statement Sunday, said the three troops were killed by “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq” and launched an investigation. He also vowed to take retaliatory action against the group, although no details were provided.
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“These claims are made with specific political goals to reverse the realities of the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, reported Iran’s state-backed IRNA news agency.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s government condemned the drone strike in an apparent effort to distance itself from an attack likely carried out by the Iranian-backed militias that have a strong presence inside Iraq.
Other than the three deaths, 34 other soldiers were wounded troops but most had cuts, bruises, traumatic brain injuries, and similar wounds, U.S. officials have said, reported The Associated Press. Eight were medically evacuated and the most seriously hurt service member is in critical but stable condition.
Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told news outlets Monday that the U.S. administration wasn’t seeking to get into another conflict in the Middle East.
However, Mr. Kirby also made clear that the American patience has worn thin after more than two months of attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan and on the U.S. Navy and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The groups—including Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iraq based Kataeb Hezbollah—say the attacks are in response to Israel’s ongoing to military operations in Gaza.
“We are not looking for a war with Iran. We are not looking to escalate the tensions any more than they already have been escalating,” Mr. Kirby told reporters. “That said, this was a very serious attack. It had lethal consequences. We will respond, and we respond appropriately.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
