Soldiers from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led anti-jihad coalition take part in military exercises near Deir Ezzor, Syria, March 25, 2022 (AFP/Delil SOULEIMAN)
Fourteen pro-Iranian militants were killed by US airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday night, carried out in response to a drone strike that killed one American and wounded six others.
The drone strike took place Thursday against a maintenance facility at a base near Al-Hasakah, killing one American contractor and injuring five American soldiers and another contractor, according to the Pentagon.
In response, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he had authorized “precision airstrikes” in eastern Syria “against facilities used by groups linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), six pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the attacks in a “weapons depot in the city of Deir Ezzor” and eight others in positions of pro-Iranian groups near Mayadine and Boukamal.
Iranian groups and their allies fighting alongside the regime in Damascus are well established in these regions near the border with Iraq, key crossing points for arms into Syria.
Nine of the 14 killed were Syrians, said the OSDH, which is based in the UK but has an extensive network of sources in Syria.
On Friday, ten missiles were fired at US and coalition forces “around 8:05 a.m. (0605 GMT) in Syria” against the al-Omar oil field, dubbed the “green zone,” according to the U.S. Middle East Military Command ( CentCom).
OSDH director Rami Abdel Rahmane had previously claimed rockets had been fired by “Tehran-affiliated groups”.
These attacks caused no injuries or damage on the coalition side, but a missile that hit a house nearly three miles from the base caused “considerable damage,” “two women and two children were slightly injured,” an American captain Abigail Hammock told AFP .
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the de facto army of the Kurds, allies of the Americans, announced that rocket fire injured two civilians.
– “Conflict” –
US soldiers on patrol near Hassaké on February 18, 2023 in Syria ( AFP / Delil SOULEIMAN )
On Friday, US President Joe Biden assured that “the United States does not seek conflict with Iran but stands ready to act with vigor to protect its people.”
His Minister Lloyd Austin had previously stated that the American strikes were “in response to today’s attack and a series of recent attacks on coalition forces in Syria by groups linked to the Revolutionary Guards”.
These strikes were intended to show “that we take the safety of our personnel seriously and respond (…) when threatened,” said Pat Ryder, spokesman for the Pentagon.
Several hundred US soldiers are in Syria, within a coalition fighting what remains of the Islamic State (IS) group. They are frequently attacked by militias.
US troops are supporting the SDF, which fought the battle that pushed ISIS out of the last areas it controlled in Syria in 2019.
Two of the US soldiers injured Thursday were treated at the scene of the attack, while the other three soldiers and a US contractor were medically evacuated to Iraq, the Pentagon said.
In August 2022, the US President ordered similar retaliatory strikes in the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor after a coalition outpost was attacked by several drones, leaving no casualties.
Iran says it has deployed its forces in Syria at the invitation of Damascus and only as an adviser.
The Revolutionary Guards represent the ideological arm of the Iranian army and are classified by Washington as a terrorist group.
The US-led international coalition has repeatedly admitted to carrying out strikes against pro-Iranian fighters in eastern Syria. Israel also regularly carries out strikes there, but rarely complains about them.