BEIRUT, March 25 (Portal) – The death toll in US airstrikes on pro-Iranian facilities in eastern Syria has risen to 19 militants, a Syrian war observer said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest exchanges between US and Iranian forces in years.
The US carried out strikes in eastern Syria in response to a drone strike on Thursday that killed an American contractor and wounded another and five US troops. Washington said the attack was Iranian in origin.
A total of 19 people died in US retaliatory strikes against facilities in Syria allegedly used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The war observer said airstrikes killed three Syrian troops, 11 Syrian fighters in pro-government militias and five non-Syrian fighters allied with the government.
The director of the monitor, Rami Abdel Rahman, was unable to provide any information on the nationalities of the foreigners. Portal could not independently confirm the toll.
The initial exchange sparked a series of Rebellion strikes. Another US serviceman was wounded, officials said, and local sources said suspected US rocket fire had hit additional locations in eastern Syria.
President Joe Biden warned Iran on Friday that the United States would “act forcefully” to protect Americans.
Iran has been a key supporter of President Bashar al-Assad during the 12-year conflict in Syria.
Iran’s proxy militias, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iraqi groups supporting Tehran, control parts of eastern, southern and northern Syria and the suburbs around the capital.
Tehran’s growing entrenchment in Syria has drawn regular Israeli airstrikes, but American airstrikes are rarer. The US has sounded the alarm over Iran’s drone program.
Reporting by Maya Gebeily Editing by Frances Kerry and Bernadette Baum
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