The United States launched airstrikes in Syria early Friday in response to an attack it attributes to an Iranian drone that killed a US contractor, the Pentagon said. This is not the first time the United States has launched a military operation against suspected pro-Iranian militants in Syria under the presidency of Joe Biden. In fact, the first military operation of his tenure in February 2021 was also in response to an alleged Iranian missile launch in the region. In June of the same year and in August 2022 there were also US airstrikes for the same reason,
“At the direction of President Biden, I have authorized United States Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes in eastern Syria tonight against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said , through an explanation.
According to the Pentagon, one US contractor was killed and five US soldiers and another contractor injured after a disposable drone struck a maintenance base near Hasakah in northeastern Syria around 1:38 p.m. local time. “The secret services assume that the UAV is of Iranian origin,” explains the Ministry of Defense.
Washington conducted its operation in response to this Iranian drone attack. “The airstrikes were carried out in response to today’s attack as well as a number of more recent attacks on coalition forces in Syria by IRGC-affiliated groups,” Austin added.
The Pentagon claims that these precision strikes are designed to protect and defend US personnel. The United States describes its actions as “proportionate and intentionally designed to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties.”
“As President Biden has made clear, we will take whatever steps necessary to defend our people, and we will always respond at the time and place of our choosing,” Secretary Austin said. “No group will attack our troops with impunity.” “Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and injured in today’s attack,” he added.
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Two of the wounded soldiers received on-site treatment while three others and the US contractor were medically evacuated to coalition medical facilities in Iraq.
The United States still maintains about a thousand troops and scores of non-military personnel in Syria to try to thwart a resurgence of the Islamic State. They are often targeted by militias linked to the Iranian regime. Washington views Iran as the region’s greatest security threat.
Iran is also one of Russia’s few allies. It has provided drones that Moscow has used to order attacks on Ukraine, hitting military targets and civilian infrastructure. Iran has denied responsibility for these attacks, although Western countries and experts have linked components of the drones to Tehran.
Syria’s war began with the 2011 Arab Spring protests that swept the Middle East and toppled governments in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. It later turned into a regional proxy conflict in which Russia and Iran supported Bashar al-Assad. The United Nations estimates that more than 300,000 civilians were killed in the war. These figures do not include soldiers and insurgents killed in the conflict, who are estimated to number in the tens of thousands.
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