The US military says three dead and at least 25 others wounded in attack on US forces in northeastern Jordan.
Three U.S. service members were killed and at least 25 others were wounded in a drone strike in northeastern Jordan, near the Syrian border, the U.S. military said.
“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know that it was carried out by radical Iranian-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
He said the United States “will hold all those responsible accountable promptly and in a manner [of] our choice.”
Jordanian state television quoted Muhannad Mubaidin, a Jordanian government spokesman, as saying the attack occurred outside the kingdom, across the border in Syria.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed armed groups, claimed responsibility for attacks on three bases, including one on the Jordan-Syria border.
These are the first deaths of US troops in the Middle East since Israel's war against Gaza began on October 7.
The attack comes amid rising tensions in the region, where Israel continues its war against Gaza in response to an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel that killed at least 1,139 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel's subsequent attack on Gaza has killed more than 26,400 people, according to Palestinian officials in the besieged territory.
'Regional war'
Fears have grown over the possibility of a regional conflagration amid attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping and near-daily rounds of cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
In recent weeks, Iranian-backed armed groups have stepped up attacks on US military bases in Iraq and neighboring Syria in response to the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Iran-backed groups have said their attacks are retaliation for Washington's support for Israel's war in Gaza and have also said they aim to expel US forces from the region.
In recent months, the United States has struck targets in Iraq, Syria and Yemen to respond to attacks on US forces in the region and to deter Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from continuing to threaten commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar said there have been more than 100 attacks on US military facilities in the Middle East since Israel launched its attack on Gaza.
“Iran's position so far… has been quite clear. They say these attacks are not directed or planned by Iran. They say Iran has allies throughout the region. However, these allies also make decisions based on their own decisions,” he stated.
“The Iranians do not want a regional escalation. “Iranian officials know that a direct military confrontation with Israel also means a war with the United States that could be deadly for Iran.”
Colin Clarke, senior researcher at the Soufan Group, told Al Jazeera that these attacks show there was a “regional war”.
“There is no denying that. American troops have been killed and the United States will respond forcefully, whether in Iran itself or against Iranian proxies in the various countries where they operate,” he said.
“Iran can choose to distance itself as much as it wants, but it funds, trains and equips these groups… The Biden administration will be under immense pressure to demonstrate that the United States will not sit back and watch these groups kill its troops. “Iranian-backed groups.”
“The question now is what form this response will take,” Clarke said.
