Three American soldiers were killed and 25 injured in a drone attack in Jordan, Washington announced on Sunday, January 28, with President Joe Biden threatening reprisals against the perpetrators and naming pro-Iran groups as responsible.

This is the first time that American soldiers have been killed in the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a new step which raises fears of an escalation of already great tensions in the region, against a backdrop of war latent between Israel and Iran.

"Today, America has a heavy heart. Last night, three American service members were killed and several injured in a drone attack on our forces based in northeastern Jordan," the president said. American in a press release.

“Have no doubt: we will hold all those responsible accountable, when and how we want,” he added, his tone threatening.

The US Middle East Command (Centcom) said 25 soldiers were injured on this base, near the border with Syria.

For his part, the spokesperson for the Jordanian government indicated on Sunday that the attack by the American military did not take place on its territory, but rather on a military base in Syria. 

The "attack which targeted American forces did not take place in Jordan (...) It targeted the Al-Tanf base in Syria", a strategic base of the anti-jihadist coalition, near the Jordanian and Iraqi, Muhannad Mubaidin, who is also communications minister, told Jordanian state television. 

Maximum regional instability

Joe Biden asserted that at this point, "we know that this was carried out by a group of radical pro-Iran fighters operating in Syria and Iraq."

The victimized soldiers, the Democrat wrote, “risked their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans and that of our allies and partners with whom we fight terrorism.”

In response, Sami Abou Zahri, a Hamas spokesperson, declared that the death of these three soldiers "is a message to the American administration": "the continuation of the American-Zionist aggression in Gaza risks an explosion regional" with the anger "of the whole" of the Muslim world.

These American military deaths occur in an explosive context: in addition to the war in Gaza, there have been multiple strikes and attacks between, on the one hand, Iran and its allies in the region (Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.), and on the other Israel, the United States and their partners.

Since mid-October, more than 150 drone strikes or rocket attacks have targeted American and coalition soldiers in Iraq and Syria. These strikes, which have so far not killed an American soldier, are generally claimed by the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq", a nebula of fighters from pro-Iranian armed groups.

Washington responded with targeted strikes in Iraq but these attacks have remained contained for the moment, Iran and the United States having reiterated that they do not want a regional explosion.

Further south, since the beginning of January, Washington has repeatedly bombed positions of the Houthis in Yemen, these pro-Iran rebels who target international maritime traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The United States even asked China this week to intercede with Tehran in favor of stopping these strikes, which have seriously disrupted world trade.

Also read: The Houthis, the Yemeni group challenging the United States in the Red Sea

At the same time, US ally Israel has stepped up its strikes against the Syrian regime and pro-Iranian groups in the neighboring country. Israel also faces, on its northern border, regular exchanges of fire with the Lebanese Hezbollah, very close to Iran.

With AFP

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