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Post by Newsman on Jan 28, 2024 19:21:10 GMT -5
 ...events in the Middle East have taken a dark turn over the weekend...(The Guardian) Three US service members killed in drone attack on US forces in north-east Jordan, says Joe BidenThree US service members have been killed during an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces in north-east Jordan near the Syria border on Saturday night. In a statement released on Sunday, Joe Biden said that while an investigation into the attack remains underway, the US knows “it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.” Biden added that many others were wounded. He went on to add: Jill and I join the families and friends of our fallen—and Americans across the country – in grieving the loss of these warriors in this despicable and wholly unjust attack … 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 our choosing.At least 34 personnel are being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury, according to a US official, Reuters reports. The attacks mark the first fatalities of US troops in the region since Israel’s war in Gaza began on 7 October. |
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Post by Webster on Jan 28, 2024 19:48:42 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The attack which killed three US service members was not on Jordanian soil but in Syria, according to a Jordanian government spokesperson. Speaking to Jordanian public broadcaster Al-Mamlaka television, Muhannad Al Mubaidin said that the attack targeted the US al-Tanf base in Syria, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, Joe Biden said earlier that the attack occurred in north-eastern Jordan near the Syrian border.
US central command (Centcom) said that it is currently withholding the identities of the service members killed in Saturday night’s attack until 24 hours after their families have been informed. In a statement released on Sunday, Centcom said: As a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with DoD [Department of Defense] policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.
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Post by Webster on Jan 28, 2024 19:49:55 GMT -5
(The Guardian) US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has responded to the attacks on US troops in Jordan, saying: Iran-backed militias are responsible for these continued attacks on US forces, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing.Egypt has also condemned the attacks which killed three US troops and injured dozens more, with its foreign ministry saying: Egypt affirmed its strong condemnation of any terrorist acts that threaten the security and stability of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, expressing full solidarity with Jordan in this delicate situation ... Egypt emphasized the necessity of confronting all forms of terrorism and rejecting all manifestations of violence to ensure the stability of the region.
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Post by Webster on Jan 29, 2024 15:13:34 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden met with national security team after Jordan strike killed three US troopsThe White House just announced that Joe Biden spent this morning meeting with his national security team after a strike Washington blamed on Iran-backed militias killed three US service members in Jordan. Among those in attendance were national security adviser Jake Sullivan, defense secretary Lloyd Austin, director of national intelligence Avril Haines and his chief of staff Jeff Zients.
The White House’s national security adviser John Kirby has addressed the three “American lives taken” by the strike on the Jordan-Syria border, but stopped short of announcing what the US’s response will be. “I will not get ahead of the president’s decision,” Kirby said. “We are not looking for a war with Iran,” he said multiple times when asked about taking action against Iran, whom the US has blamed for the attack. Kirby said Biden is meeting with his national security team and weighing the options before him. What those options are, however, remain unclear.
Kirby also the attack against the three American servicemen over the weekend will not affect a hostage deal, referring to releasing the Israelis still held hostage by Hamas since the 7 October attack. He also said the US hopes to secure another humanitarian pause in Gaza, but did not provide additional details.
When asked about an event held in Jerusalem over the weekend that saw Israeli ministers and parlimentarians calling for the resettlement of Gaza, Kirby said the US’s policy is clear: there should be no reductions in Gaza territory.
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Post by Webster on Jan 29, 2024 18:29:37 GMT -5
(The Guardian) US does not want war with Iran – PentagonThe Pentagon said moments ago that it does not believe that Iran is seeking a war with the United States, and that Washington doesn’t want a war either. Echoing the White House a little earlier, the Pentagon statement came a day after an Iran-backed group killed three US soldiers and wounded dozens more in Jordan, Reuters reports. A Pentagon spokesperson, Sabrina Singh, blamed Iran for enabling groups attacking the United States and said the latest attack carried the “footprints” of Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah. -- We don’t seek war, but we will take action, and respond to attacks on our forces,” Singh said.
US troops killed in drone strike in Jordan namedThe Pentagon has now named all three of the US troops who were killed on Sunday in the drone strike in Jordan, understood to have been launched by an Iranian-backed militia mainly based in Iraq. Those killed were army reservists from the US state of Georgia: Sgt William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, the Associated Press reports. All three were reservists assigned to the 926th Engineer Brigade based at Fort Moore, Georgia. Sanders’s father Shawn said: She was speaking with her mom the day before. It wasn’t like they were at high alert or in a secure bunker.Joe Biden has promised that the US will respond. Shawn Sanders said he was confident Biden will make an appropriate decision. Asked what he thinks would be the correct response, the grieving father declined to say. -- Out of anger for losing a child, I just can’t,” he said.
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Post by Webster on Jan 29, 2024 18:35:00 GMT -5
(The Guardian) US will respond 'decisively' to aggression, says Blinken on drone attackThe US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is currently holding a press conference in Washington alongside the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. Speaking about the drone attack on a US military outpost in Jordan that killed three American service personnel, Blinken said the US has been “very clear” from the outset in warning that anyone “looking to take advantage of the conflict in the Middle East and to try and expand it: don’t do it.” He said: The president has been crystal clear: we will respond decisively to any aggression, and we will hold responsible the people who attacked our troops at a time and a place of our choosing.
Antony Blinken said the US remains focused on its core objectives in the Middle East, ie “To build a truly durable peace and security”. The US secretary of state noted that it is critical to find a formula for a “durable end to the cycle of violence” in the region, in which Israel can “move forward in peace and security” and a Palestinian Authority “that is reformed and a clear pathway to a Palestinian state”. The way to durable security is through a region “that is more integrated, where the relations among its countries are normalised, and where the question of the rights of Palestinians are finally answered”, he said.
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Post by Webster on Jan 29, 2024 18:36:12 GMT -5
(The Guardian) US response to drone attack could be 'multi-levelled and sustained over time', says BlinkenUS secretary of state Antony Blinken noted that the situation in the Middle East is “incredibly volatile”, adding: I would argue that we’ve not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region at least 1973, and arguably even before that.The US will defend its personnel and interests, and has taken significant action to deter groups and degrade their capabilities in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, he said. President Biden has been “very clear that we want to prevent broader escalation” in the region but has also warned that the US will respond “strongly” to anyone who will try to use the crisis to create further instability or attack American personnel, he said. Blinken said: As the president said yesterday, we will respond. That response could be multi-levelled, come in stages, and be sustained over time.The secretary of state emphasised that the US “does not seek conflict” with Iran but will respond “very vigorously” to the drone attack in Jordan.
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Post by Webster on Jan 29, 2024 18:43:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Iranian-made drone used in Jordan attack, US official reportedly saysA US official has said that a Iranian-made drone was used in the deadly attack on Sunday against on a US military base in Jordan, according to a report. The official told CBS that the drone used in the attack wasa “type of Shahed drone”, a one-way attack drone that Iran has been providing to Russia. Iran has denied it was behind the drone strike, but Islamic Resistance in Iraq have claimed responsibility as part of efforts, galvanised by the Israel-Hamas war, to try to drive US troops out of Iraq and Syria.
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Post by Webster on Jan 29, 2024 18:45:10 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Joe Biden has vowed to hold all those responsible for the drone attack on a US military base in Jordan to account “at a time and in a manner of our choosing”. The US president shared a picture of a meeting earlier today with his national security team, including the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, on the attack that killed three American service personnel and wounded dozens of people.
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Post by Webster on Jan 29, 2024 22:17:05 GMT -5
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