FLASH NEWS
The story of the American base that was hit in Jordan. The denials about the attack and the danger that threatens King Abdullah II
2024-01-30 10:54:05 / BOTA
A US military base in a rural area of northeastern Jordan drew international attention after a drone attack killed three US soldiers and wounded at least 34 others. Before this attack, very little was known about this American base in the Jordanian desert.
The base, known as "Tower 22", is located near the demilitarized zone on the border between Jordan and Syria. The Iraqi border is only 10 kilometers from the base.
On the Syrian side of this vast, arid region, called Rukban, a refugee camp was set up in 2014 for civilians displaced from areas controlled by the Islamic State.
About 100,000 people lived in this camp, whom Jordan did not allow to enter the country for fear that among them there could be fighters of the extremist group. Those concerns grew after a 2016 car bomb attack there killed seven Jordanian border guards.
According to the UN, over time, the number of people in this refugee camp dwindled to around 7,500 due to a lack of supplies.
The base began as a Jordanian border observation post, but in 2015 there was an increase in the American presence after the United States' decision to send troops to Syria to fight the Islamic State group. 350 soldiers are stationed at this small base, including engineering, aviation, logistics and United States Air Force units.
The location of the base has created opportunities for easier entry and exit from Syria for US forces. A small American garrison in al-Tanf, Syria is located only 20 kilometers north of the "Tower 22" base. This base is located along a Syrian highway that leads to Iraq and eventually Mosul, once a center of the Islamic State. This is also a possible route of arms shipments to Iran.
US troops have long used Jordan, a country that borders Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, Saudi Arabia and Syria, as an important hub for their operations in the Middle East. About 3,000 US troops are usually present throughout Jordan.
However, the presence of the United States in Jordan risks angering the population that has already held mass protests against Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in which, according to Palestinian health officials, more than 26,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. According to some estimates, about 3 million of Jordan's 11.5 million inhabitants are Palestinians.
The protests could threaten the power of King Abdullah II, an important ally of the United States. After Sunday's attack, Jordan initially denied reports that the "Tower 22" base was located within its border./VOA
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