US soldiers killed in Jordan attack named by Pentagon, as report shows drone may have passed by mistake

29 January 2024, 20:43 | Updated: 30 January 2024, 00:27

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

The Pentagon has named the three American soldiers that were killed in Sunday's attack in Jordan.

They were William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders, and Breonna Moffett, all of which were from an army reserve unit in the state of Georgia.

The soldiers were in their sleeping quarters at the American base when the struck with 'little warning', CBS reports.

The drone which led to the three deaths arrived at the same time as a returning American drone, meaning parts of the base's defence system were down.

It means the drone may have been confused with an American drone returning to the US installation.

As the enemy drone was flying in at a low altitude, a US drone was returning to the small desert installation known as Tower 22 and may have been allowed to pass by mistake, according to a preliminary report cited by the officials, who were not authorised to comment and insisted on anonymity.

As a result, there was no effort to shoot down the enemy drone that hit the outpost early on Sunday morning.

The US troops at the outpost use trailers for their sleeping quarters.

Read More: Sunak urges Iran to 'de-escalate' after deadly drone attack on US soldiers in Jordan, as Trump warns of World War 3

Read More: 'We are on the brink of World War Three,' says Donald Trump after three US soldiers killed in drone strike in Jordan

Officials said that of the 34 wounded troops, most had cuts, bruises, traumatic brain injuries and similar wounds.

Eight were medically evacuated and the most seriously hurt service member is in a critical but stable condition.

The attack has "Iranian fingerprints on it", the Pentagon said this evening.

"The president and I will not tolerate attacks on US forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the US and our troops," US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday as he met Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg at the Pentagon.

The drone attack was one of dozens on US troops in the Middle East since Hamas launched attacks on Israel on October 7, igniting the war in Gaza. But it is the first in which American service members have been killed.

There are warnings that the Middle East faces being engulfed into a regional conflict amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

A former CIA Director has warned a major war could engulf the Middle East - following a drone strike on a US military base in Jordan.

Speaking on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, John Brennan siad the US is like to attack proxy targets in Iraq and Syria in response.