US air strikes in Syria in ‘response to series of attacks on coalition forces’
The US Secretary of Defense has issued a statement on the attacks.
(Photo: AP)
Washington According to the Pentagon, US units have flown several attacks against groups allied with Iran in northeastern Syria during the night. The attacks came after an American businessman was killed in a drone strike on a US-led coalition base near Al-Hasakah. Another businessman and five US soldiers were injured.
“The airstrikes come in response to a series of attacks on coalition forces carried out by units linked to the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
The retaliatory strikes came at the direction of President Joe Biden and affected facilities used by these entities.
The drone strike came just weeks after the top US general, Mark Milley, visited northeastern Syria to assess the operation against the Islamic State and the risk to US personnel.
US forces were deployed to Syria under US President Barack Obama against the Islamic State (IS) and worked with a Kurdish-led group called the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Iran-backed militias gained a foothold in Syria fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War.
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