The News
A drone attack on a U.S. outpost near the Jordan-Syria border overnight killed three U.S. soldiers and injured two dozen more, officials said.
It marked a major escalation of tensions in the region and the first time U.S. troops have been killed by enemy fire there since the beginning of the Gaza war in October.
President Joe Biden said in a statement Sunday that the attack “was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.”
He vowed to “hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.”
Analysts have been worried for months about the war in Gaza expanding into a regional conflict directly involving players like Washington, which has said it doesn’t want to see a wider war.
While Iran-backed militias like the Houthis have been responsible for attacks like those on the Red Sea shipping corridor, Iran’s foreign minister also said last week that the country didn’t want the conflict to expand.