3 U.S. Military Members Killed at Jordanian Base

Three U.S. military members were killed in a shooting outside a military base in southern Jordan on Friday, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the three were in Jordan on a training mission and came under fire while driving into the base. He provided no other details and said U.S. officials are consulting with the Jordanian government to determine exactly what happened at the base.

Earlier, an American official in Washington said one U.S. service member died at the scene and two who were wounded died at a hospital in Amman, the Jordanian capital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details of how the attack happened were still being investigated.

Jordan is a key U.S. ally and member of a U.S-led military coalition fighting the Islamic State terror group, which controls parts of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

Shots were fired as a car carrying the Americans tried to enter the al-Jafr base near the southern Jordanian town of Mann at about noon local time on Friday, military officials in the U.S. and Jordan said.

In addition to the U.S. casualties, a Jordanian officer was wounded, Jordanian officials said.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting.