The US Defense said a suspected Iranian drone strike in northeastern Syria killed one of its contractors. The Pentagon said that five US soldiers and another contractor were also injured in the attack.
US security forces said they targeted targets used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and quickly retaliated with airstrikes.
“At the direction of President Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. “The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC.”
According to the Associated Press, the area is controlled by Iran-backed militia groups and the Syrian army, and has seen recent damage from suspected airstrikes by Israel targeting alleged Iranian supply routes.
Thursday’s US strikes killed 11 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war with a network of local sources. According to reports, six Iran-backed militants were killed in a warehouse in the city. Two people were killed on the outskirts of the nearby town of al-Mayadeen. And three other people died in the surrounding desert.
“The death toll is expected to rise as more militiamen were wounded in the attack,” the group wrote online.
Iran or Syria have not yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Middle East has been in turmoil for years due to rival forces. In the recent past, steps were being taken to ease tensions. But the latest US attacks have raised concerns once again.
The latest attacks and reprisals have jeopardized recent talks aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East after decades of conflict. Earlier this month, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic ties in a deal brokered by China. Their analysis was that the American influence in this region is decreasing.
Iran uses proxy forces in the Middle East to counter the US and Israel.
The Pentagon said two wounded soldiers were treated at the scene, while three others and the wounded contractor were taken to a hospital in Iraq.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is suspected of carrying out attacks with bomb-carrying drones across the wider Middle East. In recent months, Russia has begun using Iranian drones in its war against Ukraine.
Iran is estimated to have carried out 78 attacks on US forces in Syria since January 2021, US Army General Michael “Eric” Kurilla, head of Central Command, told the US House Armed Services Committee on Thursday.”We will always take all necessary measures to protect our people,” Kurilla said in a statement.
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