The US military on Thursday carried out airstrikes on two facilities in eastern Syria that the US says are used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and groups that Iran supports. The Pentagon reports this. F-16s were used in the attacks and the targets were warehouses for weapons and ammunition.
The strikes are in response to “at least 16” recent attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon said. “These precision self-defense strikes are in response to a series of sustained and largely unsuccessful attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria carried out by Iranian-backed militias beginning on October 17,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
According to the Pentagon, a US citizen died of a heart attack while taking cover during one of the attacks and 21 others were slightly injured. They are now back to work.
The attacks were ordered by President Joe Biden, who said at a news conference on Wednesday that he had warned Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against attacks on US forces. “My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continue to turn against those forces, we will respond, and he must be prepared. It has nothing to do with Israel.”
Earlier in the day, the Pentagon reported that the US is sending 900 extra soldiers to the Middle East now that there is unrest in the region due to the conflict in Gaza. It did not say where the troops will be deployed, but did indicate that they are “not going to Israel.”
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.