Published October 27, 2023
Two U.S. fighter jets struck weapons and ammunition facilities in Syria on Friday in retaliation for attacks on U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militia as concerns grew the Israel-Hamas conflict might spread in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden ordered strikes on the two facilities used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and militia groups that it backs, the Pentagon said, warning the U.S. will take additional measures if attacks by Iran’s proxies continue.
U.S. and coalition troops have been attacked at least 19 times in Iraq and in Syria by Iran-backed forces in the past week. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are all backed by Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said at the United Nations on Thursday that if Israel’s offensive against Hamas did not stop, the United States will “not be spared from this fire.”
The U.S. air strikes took place at roughly 4:30 a.m. Friday (0130 GMT) near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq, and were carried out by two F-16 fighter jets using precision munitions, a U.S. defense official said.
“These precision self-defense 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 Oct. 17,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
“These Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop,” Austin said.
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SOURCE: https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/iran-irgc-airstrikes/2023/10/26/id/1139883/
RELATED: U.S. strikes Iranian-backed ammo sites in Syria
Defense officials said that the sites were involved in strikes on U.S. troops.
The Pentagon says the U.S. military launched airstrikes early Oct. 27, 2023, on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. | AP
Published October 26, 2023
The U.S. conducted two airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups in eastern Syria Thursday night in response to a series of attacks on U.S. forces this month.
“These strikes are a direct response to a series of ongoing attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria that began on October 17,” a senior defense official told reporters Thursday.
While the sites were used by local militias, the official said they are funded and equipped by Iran.
“Let’s be clear, Iran is responsible” for the attacks on U.S. forces, the official said.
American F-16s hit the two locations near Abu Kamal, one of which was a weapons storage area while the other was an ammunition storage area, according to a military official.
It is not yet clear if any Iranians were present at the sites, said the two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the topic.
American troops have come under attack by a mix of one-way drones and rockets 19 times in Syria and Iraq this month.
Overall, 21 service members have been lightly injured, 19 of which have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.
The officials said that the sites were involved in many of those strikes on U.S. troops, and “Iranian fingerprints are all over” the attacks, the defense official said.
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SOURCE: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/26/us-strikes-syria-retaliation-iran-00123926
RELATED: U.S. launches strikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria in retaliation for drone attacks on U.S. military bases
Defense Secretary Austin said the strikes were on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups.
Published October 27, 2023
The U.S. launched strikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria on Thursday in retaliation for a series of drone attacks on American military bases in the region, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
“Today, at President Biden’s direction,” Austin said, “U.S. military forces conducted self-defense strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups. These precision self-defense 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.”
The U.S. military action comes amid rising tensions in the region over the conflict in Israel. Austin called the attacks “separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas” and said they don’t represent a shift in the U.S. approach to the conflict.
