The United States has carried out two airstrikes on two Iranian-linked sites in eastern Syria in reaction to a series of strikes on U. S. troops in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon said Sunday.
U. S. airstrikes have killed at least eight pro-Iranian fighters in eastern Syria, according to a war observer. The death toll stands at “8 pro-Iranian fighters, at least one Syrian citizen and one Iraqi,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday.
“U. S. military forces today conducted precision moves at facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian-affiliated teams in reaction to continued attacks on U. S. labor corps in Iraq and Syria,” the defense secretary said. Lloyd Austin, in a statement.
The two moves on Sunday targeted an educational center in Abu Kamal and a shelter in Mayadeen.
This is the third time in three weeks that the United States has launched attacks against Syrian sites it claims are connected to Iran.
Austin said the measures were mandated through President Joe Biden.
“The president has no higher priority than the protection of American personnel, and he has ordered today’s action to make it transparent that the United States will defend itself, its people, and its interests,” Austin said in the statement.
Prior to Sunday’s attacks, the U. S. said it had targeted an Iranian-linked weapons workshop in Syria on Wednesday, and on Oct. 26 it struck two weapons in the country that it said were being used through Iran and affiliated organizations.
According to the U. S. , Iranian-backed teams have attacked U. S. forces, injuring dozens of people.
Pro-Iranian militias have stepped up their attacks on U. S. forces in those countries amid the standoff between Israel and Hamas that intensified after the Oct. 7 attacks.
There are about 2,500 U. S. troops deployed in Iraq and about 900 in Syria in the short and long term to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group.
mfi/msh (AFP, Reuters, dpa)