The death toll from an attack at an air base in south Jordan has increased to three U.S. troops, after two who were critically injured later died, a U.S. military official confirmed.
The service members were in vehicles approaching the gate of a Jordanian training facility when they came under small arms fire, the official said. Jordanian news agency Petra identified the base as the Prince Faisal Air Base. The incident occurred just after noon local time.
“The three service members were in Jordan on a training mission, and the initial report is that they came under fire as they were entering the facility in vehicles. We are working closely with the government of Jordan to determine exactly what happened,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
The wounded service members were rushed to King Hussein Hospital in Amman for treatment, where they died.
Jordan is an ally of the United States and a member of the coalition fighting the Islamic State. It was also the site of a training program for moderate Syrian rebels, which was largely abandoned when lawmakers criticized it for spending large amounts of money while producing only a small number of fighters.
Almost a year before Friday’s attack, two Americans were killed Nov. 9 in Amman when a Jordanian policeman opened fire at a police training camp in the capital. A South African trainer was also killed in the shooting.
