Jordan drone strike: who are Islamic Resistance in Iraq and what is Tower 22?
Photograph: Planet Labs PBC/AP
Three US service personnel were killed and dozens wounded after a drone hit a military outpost in Jordan, known as Tower 22, which lies on the border with Iraq and Syria. The US president, Joe Biden, has blamed Iran-backed militants for the attack and said: “We will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing.”
Iran has denied any involvement in the attacks but Islamic Resistance in Iraq have claimed responsibility as part of efforts, galvanised by the Israel-Hamas war, to try to drive US troops out of Iraq and Syria.
Who are Islamic Resistance in Iraq?
The attack on the US base was claimed by Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a term used to describe a loose coalition of Iranian-backed militias that oppose US support for Israel in the war in Gaza. Membership of the group is deliberately vague, allowing each armed group a level of plausible deniability, according to the Atlantic Council.
There is evidence suggesting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards play a coordinating role, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said.
On Sunday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said they targeted US personnel with drones at three locations in Syria, including two bases near where the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan meet, but it was not immediately clear if the group was referring specifically to the attack that killed the US troops.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, the group has claimed responsibility for about 20 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria.
In total, US forces have come under attack more than 150 times by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, causing at least 70 casualties before Sunday’s attack, most of them traumatic brain injuries.
What is Tower 22?
Tower 22 occupies a strategically important location in Jordan, at the most north-eastern point where the country’s borders meet Syria and Iraq.
Little is publicly known about the base. It is near al-Tanf garrison, which houses a small number of US troops across the border in Syria. Tanf had been key in the fight against Islamic State (IS) and has assumed a role as part of a US strategy to contain Iran’s military buildup in eastern Syria. Tower 22 is located close enough to US troops at Tanf that it could support them, while also potentially countering Iran-backed militants in the area and allowing troops to keep an eye on remnants of IS in the region.
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Jordan set up an elaborate surveillance system, known as the border security programme, to stem infiltration by militants from Syria and Iraq.
The kingdom has hundreds of US trainers and is one of the few regional allies that hold extensive exercises with US troops throughout the year.
Late last year, Amman asked Washington to deploy Patriot air defence systems to bolster its border defences. It has requested more aid to tackle drones used in a multibillion-dollar drug war along the border with Syria, which Amman blames on pro-Iranian militias who hold sway in southern Syria.
There are about 2,500 US troops in Iraq and 900 in north-east Syria to support operations against remnants of IS, according to the Atlantic Council.
It is unclear how many US troops are stationed on Tower 22. Also unclear are the type of weapons kept, air defences used, and what exactly went wrong in the attack.
With Reuters