In March 2016, as part of the fight against the Islamic State [EI ou Daesh]the American forces installed a garrison in Al-Tanf, a locality which, located in the south of Syria, was then strategic given that its control made it possible to lock down the Damascus-Baghdad axis, to prevent possible jihadist infiltrations in Jordan and, incidentally, to ensure the training of Syrian rebels.
Since then, the self-proclaimed caliphate by Daesh has been defeated. However, having not lost its strategic importance, the Al-Tanf base is still controlled by American troops. Hence the attacks regularly launched against it by Syrian forces and militias affiliated with Iran.
However, to ensure support for its forces deployed in Al-Tanf, the United States established the “Tower 22” logistics base, located in Jordan, less than ten kilometers from the Syrian border. We know very little about it, except that it would house around 350 American soldiers… And that it can easily be found on Google Maps [avec une photographie satellite en prime…]
However, on January 28, this base was targeted by a kamikaze drone [ou munition téléopérée, MTO]. According to US Centcom, the American command for the Middle East and Central Asia, three soldiers were killed. And at least thirty-four others were injured, eight of whom had to be evacuated. This assessment is likely to be revised upwards, he said.
Since October 17, American forces and those of the anti-jihadist coalition [opération Inherent Resolve, OIR] were targeted 150 times in Iraq [60 fois] and in Syria [90 fois] by militias affiliated with Iran. The attack on the Tower 22 base is the first of its kind in Jordan.
It is not impossible that it is also a response to the recent strikes carried out by the Royal Jordanian Air Force against captagon traffickers [une drogue de type amphétamines] in Syria. Last week, Damascus, which derives large profits from this traffic, said it considered that “such military operations are not justified” while ensuring that it wanted to “avoid fueling tensions and harming the continued recovery” of his “fraternal relations” with Amman.
Regardless, US President Joe Biden has promised retaliation against those responsible for the attack on the Tower 22 base.
” Today [28 janvier], America has a heavy heart. Last night, three U.S. service members were killed, and several injured, in a drone attack on our forces based in northeastern Jordan, near the Syrian border. […] We know this was carried out by Iranian-backed radical fighter groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Mr. Biden said. “Have no doubt: we will hold all those responsible accountable, when and how we want,” he then assured.
“We will take all necessary measures to defend the United States, our troops and our interests,” said Lloyd Austin, the head of the Pentagon.
I send my sincere condolences to Lloyd Austin @SecDef and to the American nation after the attack which cost the lives of three American soldiers.
The United States can count on our support in our common fight against terrorism, in the Middle East and elsewhere. https://t.co/Ek5DfHA3Ya
— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) January 28, 2024
After asserting that the attack targeting American troops did not take place in Jordan but in Al-Tanf, the Jordanian government finally condemned the strike against the Tower 22 base, through Muhannad Mubaidin, its spokesperson. word. And to recall that military cooperation with the United States mainly concerns counter-terrorism and border security operations.
“Jordan will continue to fight terrorism and the smuggling of drugs and weapons across the Syrian border. She will confront with firmness and determination anyone who attempts to attack the security of the Kingdom,” he said.
It remains to be seen who is behind this attack… Via Telegram, the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, which brings together several armed groups aligned with Iranian interests, claimed strikes against “three bases in Syrian territory”, including those of Al- Tanf and Rukban. And, for its part, Tehran has declined all responsibility. It is a “conflict between the United States and ‘resistance’ groups in the region,” argued Iranian diplomacy.
In recent weeks, the United States has responded to attacks on its troops in Iraq and Syria with occasional strikes against pro-Tehran militias and positions of the al-Quds force, a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. They will probably do the same after the one targeting the Tower 22 base, given that it is out of the question for them to attack Iran directly.