An armed group among the suspects in the attack that killed three American soldiers has decided to temporarily halt its operations to “prevent embarrassment” of the Iraqi government.
Kataib Hezbollah is one of several factions that US officials believe may have carried out the drone attack Jordan.
Three Army reservists were killed and more than 40 others were wounded in Sunday's attack on the US base, the president said. Joe Biden Promising a response.
Latest developments in the Middle East: An Iraqi armed group pledges to suspend attacks on American forces
The group announced in a statement “the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces to avoid embarrassing the Iraqi government.”
US forces in the Middle East have faced dozens of attacks blamed on Iranian-backed militias since the beginning of the war Israel-Hamas war.
Map of Jordan
Kataib Hezbollah is an elite armed faction close to Iran, and was founded following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It considers US forces to be foreign occupation forces, and although they are technically accountable to the Iraqi prime minister, they have so far defied government statements urging an end to attacks on US forces.
The United States designated it a terrorist organization in 2009, and a US drone strike killed its leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in 2020 at Baghdad airport.
An Iraqi government spokesman said on Monday that the government is “monitoring with great concern the worrying security developments in the region” and called for “an end to the cycle of violence.”
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How will the United States avoid escalation?
However, US officials are believed to still be determining exactly who attacked the Tower 22 base in northeastern Jordan.
The base includes engineering, aviation, logistics and security forces, and about 350 US Army and Air Force personnel are deployed there.
Read more:
Who are the Iranian-backed militias carrying out the attacks?
The West is now embroiled in an ever-widening conflict in the Middle East
A British warship shoots down a Houthi drone
(AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
President Biden said on Tuesday that he had made up his mind on how to do that Response to the killing of soldiers William Jerome Rivers, 46, Kennedy Loudon Sanders, 24, and Breonna Alexandria Moffett, 23.
Experts said he faces one of the most important decisions of his presidency: how to respond forcefully without provoking a broader conflict in an already highly tense region.
Biden did not provide any details about his response, but added: “I don't think we need a broader war in the Middle East. That's not what I'm looking for.”
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The United States is considering a response to drone strikes
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said retaliation could come in stages.
“It's very likely that what you're seeing is a tiered approach here, not just one measure, but potentially multiple measures over a period of time,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said commanders were still looking into reports that the failure to shoot down the drone as it approached the base may have been human error.
US officials, speaking anonymously, said they may have mistaken it for their own returning drone.
There have been 166 attacks on US military facilities since October 18, shortly after Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, according to a US military official.
The number is said to include 67 in Iraq, 98 in Syria, and one in Jordan.
