Biden vows to respond after 3 US troops killed, 34 wounded in Jordan drone attack

US President Joe Biden vowed to respond after three US Army members were killed and over 30 service members were injured in a drone attack overnight on a small US outpost in Jordan.

US Central Command confirmed in a statement Sunday, reports CNN.

This is the first time that US troops have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the beginning of the Gaza war.

“We shall respond,” Joe Biden said while speaking in South Carolina on Sunday.

The drone attack took place at Tower 22 in Jordan near the border with Syria. Iran-backed militants fired the drone which appeared to come from Syria, the officials said.

The killing of three Americans is a significant escalation of an already-precarious situation in the Middle East.

Officials said it is still believed that militia groups specifically are responsible.

The one-way drone attack at a base in northeast Jordan killed three service members and at least 34 injured. Eight injured service members will receive higher-level care, CENTCOM said.

Vowing to hold those responsible for the attack “to account,” Biden on Sunday said facts are still being gathered.

He said, “We know radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq carried out the attack.”

Biden while speaking at a church in South Carolina later Sunday asked for a moment of silence to honor the service members.