The families of the three service members from Georgia killed during a drone strike in Jordan last weekend are grieving the sudden loss of their loved ones.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and President Joe Biden are expected to receive the remains of the three Army Reserve soldiers on Friday at Dover Air Force in Delaware.
“My soul is so broken,” Spec. Breonna Moffett’s mother, Francine Moffett, said on CNN’s “NewsNight” on Monday. “[She] was always an amazing person. She just lights up a room whenever she walks in. She was my firstborn. And she was always there for everybody.”
Moffett, 23, as well as Spc. Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Sgt. William Rivers, 46, was killed by a drone launched by a group U.S. officials say is called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed umbrella group operating in the region. The soldiers were assigned to the 718 Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, and 926th Engineer Brigade, located in Fort Moore, about 10 miles from Columbus, Georgia.
The incident, which is under investigation, happened at the base in northeastern Jordan, impacting an area where soldiers were resting. Dozens of others were also injured from the blast, including eight people who were evacuated and transported for medical treatment, according to reports.
It stemmed from a potential mix-up when the opposing drone trailed the US drone into the base in Jordan, leading to it not being deemed as a threat, per the outlet citing preliminary details. The drone also flew at a low altitude, so the base’s air defense systems didn’t detect it.
The deaths mark the first American fatalities amid a wave of attacks from militant groups since the Israel-Hamas conflict started last October, NBC News reported. Biden released a statement emphasizing that “we’ll hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”
Moffett, who received the Army Service Ribbon and National…
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