The United States struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran and its proxies in response to attacks against U.S. troops in the region.
President Biden ordered U.S. military forces to carry out "self-defense airstrikes" on a weapons storage facility and an ammunition storage area used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups in eastern Syria, early Friday local time, defense officials told reporters Thursday.
U.S. military forces conducted "discreet precision strikes" against the two facilities near Al Bukamal, Syria, close to the border with Iraq, using two F-16 fighter jets, the official said. They would not say where the fighter jets originated from.
These strikes "are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17," according to a Thursday statement from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
U.S. and coalition forces have been attacked at least 19 times in the Middle East since last week, including four times in Syria and 12 times in Iraq — with three new attacks on Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.
The United States has not provided evidence as to who is to blame for the assaults — which have consisted of a mix of one-way attack drones and rockets — but claims that Iran is behind them.
"There's a variety of groups. They have certain names one day, another name another day, but again, the main message is that it all goes back to Tehran," the official said. "Tehran and Iranian senior leaders are funding, arming, equipping, training and directing a whole plethora of militia groups across the region and they have escalated attacks against US forces since October 17, which is why we took self-defense actions tonight."
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
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