The United States military has carried out multiple air strikes in eastern Syria against Iran-aligned groups, who it blames for a deadly drone attack that killed a contractor, injured another, and wounded five US troops. The American raids, which a United Kingdom-based war monitor said killed 11 pro-Iranian fighters, were in retaliation for an unmanned aerial vehicle assault against a US-led coalition base near Hassakeh, in northeastern Syria, at 01:38 pm (10:38 GMT).
US intelligence assessed that the attacking drone was Iranian in origin. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the attacks targeted groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGG) in eastern Syria. “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,” Austin said in a statement.
Austin said he authorized the retaliatory strikes at the direction of US President Joe Biden. “As President Biden has made clear we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. No group will strike our troops with impunity.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), six Iranian-backed fighters were killed in the American strikes in the eastern city of Deir Az Zor. The SOHR added two other fighters were killed in a US attack on a post near the town of Mayadeen, and another strike killed three at a military post near the town of Boukamal along the border with Iraq. The reports could not be confirmed.
US forces entered Syria in 2015, backing allied forces in their fight against the ISIL (ISIS) group. The US maintains the base that was attacked near Hassakeh, while there are an estimated 900 US troops deployed in the country – and even more contractors – including in Syria’s north, south, and east.
Overnight, videos on social media purported to show explosions in Syria’s Deir Az Zor, a strategic province that borders Iraq and contains oil fields. “These precision strikes are intended to protect and defend US personnel. The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties,” the defense department said in a statement.
Iran-backed militia groups and Syrian forces control the area, which has also seen suspected air attacks by Israel in recent months allegedly targeting Iranian supply routes.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency did not immediately acknowledge any US strikes. Syria’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no immediate reaction from Iran over the strikes.
Two of the injured US troops were treated at the base in Syria while three other wounded US soldiers and the US contractor were evacuated to a coalition medical facility in Iraq, the defense department said.
The attack comes just weeks after the top US general, Mark Milley, visited northeast Syria to assess the mission against ISIL and the risk to US forces. The number of casualties from Thursday’s drone attack is highly unusual, even though attempted attacks against US forces in Syria are somewhat common.
General Erik Kurilla, who oversees US forces in the Middle East as the head of Central Command, said US troops have come under attack by Iranian-backed groups about 78 times since the beginning of 2021. Kurilla, who testified to the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee earlier on Thursday, cautioned about Iran’s fleet of drones. “The Iranian regime now holds the largest and most capable unmanned aerial vehicle force in the region,” he said.
Three drones targeted a US base in January in Syria’s Al-Tanf region. The US military said two of the UAVs were shot down while the remaining drone hit the compound.
Aljazeera
