The US has launched airstrikes on pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq, in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three of its soldiers in Jordan.
Following the bombings that killed its soldiers at a base in Jordan, the United States carried out a new series of attacks on Syria on Friday night, according to AP and the TV channels ABC and Fox News. There were also strikes in western Iraq, close to the Syrian border.
The Pentagon confirmed that the operation involved both manned and unmanned aircraft and consisted of four rounds of attacks on more than 85 locations in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where pro-Iranian fighters had their command, control and security centers, as well as intelligence, ammunition and other facilities.
“More than 125 precision weapons were used in the airstrikes” against the targets of the militants “who enabled attacks on US and coalition forces,” the US Central Command said in a statement.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least thirteen of these fighters were killed, but this has not been verified by the parties.
The attacks coincided with the day that the bodies of the three officers who died in a drone attack on a military base days ago arrived at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. William Rivers, Breonna Moffett and Kennedy Sanders were the first US soldiers to die in an attack in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas began last October.
In addition to honoring them on Friday, the administration of Joe Biden vowed to respond firmly to this wave of violence, which has injured many officers. Although US officials had not given details of the response earlier this week, the Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, had said the day before that it would be a “multiple” one.
“We can respond multiple times, depending on the situation,” the Pentagon chief said, while CBS News reported that the attacks would continue for several days in both countries.
On Sunday, the US Central Command announced that three of its soldiers in northern Jordan had been killed and another 34 wounded in a drone attack, which hit Tower 22, near the Syrian border. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which often conducts such attacks on US bases in the region, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Biden blamed the Iranian regime for being behind this incident, as it supports these rebel groups and gives them the resources for their operations.
“I hold him accountable in the sense that he is providing weapons to the people who did it,” the president said, while stressing that he did not want to escalate the conflict in the region, despite his strong response. Iran, on the other hand, warned that it would “respond decisively” to any US attack on the Islamic Republic.
Since October 18, shortly after the Gaza war started, the coalition of pro-Iranian militias in the region – including Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad and the Houthi rebels of Yemen – have launched nearly 166 attacks on US military facilities, including 67 in Iraq, 98 in Syria and one in Jordan, which injured many officers. They used various weapons, such as drones, rockets and even short-range ballistic missiles.
