Defense around Tower 22, a United States military outpost in Jordan, has been bolstered following an attack by militants that resulted in the deaths of three American service members, the Associated Press reported a U.S. official said on Friday.
Additionally, the United States has ominously stated that retaliation for the drone strike will be significant and appropriate. Since then, Harakat al-Nujaba, alleged to be the strongest Iranian proxy currently operating in Iraq, announced that it would continue attacks against the United States as other groups in the region announced they would be suspending attacks against U.S. assets.
The threat of attack by militia has been a thorn in the side of all U.S. bases in the region for years, but that threat level was raised in the wake of Israel's war with Hamas.
What Was The Military Response?
U.S. military responses in Iraq and Syria have been relatively limited, but the attack on Tower 22 appears to have raised the bar substantially as far as response levels are concerned. Targets being considered in response to the attacks are located in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, which is where the drone was fired from.
The attack was blamed on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of groups alleged to be backed by Iran.
Tower 22 houses 350 troops and is located at the border between Syria and Jordan, while the Iraqi border is only six miles away. Defense Secretary Austin indicated the U.S. response against the militias would widen.
"At this point, it's time to take away even more capability than we've taken in the past," Austin said. The Iranian connection the U.S. has repeatedly made is due to the supplies and training militia groups are believed to be receiving from Iran.
Militia groups in the region have attacked U.S. facilities at least 166 times since October. Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful Iraqi militia, has stated that it would suspend military operations against occupying forces to avoid embarrassing the Iraqi government.
