The lethal drone attack on Sunday in Jordan was the third hit in six months on the base known as Tower 22
Washington: The lethal drone attack on Sunday in Jordan was the third hit in six months on the base known as Tower 22, highlighting a gap in US defences that the Pentagon is scrambling now to fill.
At Tower 22, there were two previous attacks by one-way drones, according to a Defence official, who was not authorised to comment publicly.
Sunday’s attack by a one-way drone killed three US troops and wounded at least 34 more at the base on Jordan’s border with Syria.
The White House has blamed Iranian-backed militias for the attack, which have become increasingly dangerous in recent weeks. More than 150 such attacks targetted US bases in the Middle East since Israel’s invasion of Gaza, media reports said.
Sunday’s attack was the first ever to kill US troops, and President Joe Biden and the Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin have vowed retaliation at a “time and place of their choosing”.
At Tower 22, there were two previous attacks by one-way drones, according to a Defence official, who was not authorised to comment publicly.
The drone on Sunday detonated its payload of explosives near living quarters at the logistics base where about 350 US soldiers and airmen are based.
One-way drones hit a target without an operator in charge to steer them after launching, according to the Army.
