US drone attack: What is Tower 22 and why are US troops in Jordan?

An Iran-backed militia group has said it was responsible for a drone strike at a US military base in Jordan that killed three American troops.

At least 34 other service members were injured in the attack at the base, known as Tower 22. The White House blamed Iran and vowed a “very consequential response”.

But Iran called the accusation “baseless” and said it was “not involved in the decision-making of resistance groups”.

US officials have sought for weeks to prevent high tensions on several fronts in the region from boiling over into a wider war.

But Sunday marked the first time US soldiers had been killed by enemy fire in the region since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.

Where is the Tower 22 military base?

The attack targeted a US military base known as Tower 22 in north-eastern Jordan, near the Syrian border.

A defence official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the enemy drone came in “very low and very slow” at the same time that an American drone was returning to the base from a mission.

Approved ~ FS

Martini

Article URL : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68131434