The Kingdom of Jordan helped Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom fend off an Iranian drone assault on Israeli territory that took place over Jordanian airspace Saturday.
According to two regional security sources, Jordan’s air force intercepted and destroyed dozens of Iranian drones as they violated the Middle Eastern kingdom’s airspace on their way to targets in Israel.
Jordan’s army was on high alert over the weekend after the drone attack. The Jordanian military trained its radar systems on any drone activity originating from the direction of Iraq and Syria.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Air Defense Systems in Jordan intercepted a variety of Iranian Missiles aimed for Israel last night – very few made it through the air space following this interception. pic.twitter.com/izYjMKx5Ry
— Anthony Hughes (@CallMeAntwan) April 14, 2024
Residents in several cities across Jordan in the northern part of the country close to Syria heard heavy aerial military activity. Residents in the central and southern areas of Jordan could also hear the fighting.
Citing Israeli officials, the New York Times reported, “Iran launched 185 drones and 36 cruise missiles. Most of the launches were from Iran, though a small portion came from Iraq and Yemen. Iran also launched 110 surface-to-surface missiles.”
The U.S. and U.K. militaries also helped shoot down Iranian drones as they flew over Jordanian airspace to Israel, but Israeli Defense Forces intercepted most of the aerial combat drones.
There was reportedly a single casualty from the assault. Shrapnel severely wounded a Bedouin Israeli Arab Muslim girl in the southern Negev desert city of Arad.
NEW: Israel releases footage of them, with help from the US, UK and Jordan, intercepting 99% of all drones & missiles launched at them during last night’s attack.
According to U.S. officials, the U.S. intercepted 70 drones and three ballistic missiles.
In total, about 170… pic.twitter.com/dQhr10vXkM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 14, 2024
“At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the US military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week,” President Joe Biden said in a written statement about the Iranian attack and allied response.
“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” Biden added.
“In response to increased Iranian threats and the growing risk of escalation in the Middle East, the UK government has been working with partners across the region to encourage de-escalation and prevent further attacks,” a British defense ministry statement said.
“We have moved several additional Royal Air Force jets and air refuelling [sic] tankers to the region. These will bolster Operation Shader, which is the UK’s existing counter-Daesh operation in Iraq and Syria,” the statement continued.
