(ANSA) — BEIRUT, MARCH 25 — The death toll in attacks by Americans on Iran-affiliated groups in Syria has risen to 19 following a deadly drone strike attributed to Tehran. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights made the announcement, while Washington reiterated that it does not seek conflict with Iran.
Washington carried out the first strikes after the Pentagon said a US contractor was killed and another wounded along with 5 soldiers by an “Iranian-origin” drone targeting a US-led coalition base in the US on Thursday Near Hasakeh met northeastern Syria.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he had, at the behest of President Joe Biden, “ordered precision airstrikes… in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
Today, the UK-based Observatory, which has an extensive network of local sources, said the first wave of US attacks on Friday killed 19 people: three Syrian regime soldiers and 16 Iran-backed officials, including 11 Syrian civilians.
Hours after those attacks, 10 missiles were fired at American and coalition forces at the Green Village base in northeastern Syria, the US Central Command (Centcom) said. There were no injuries or damage to facilities at the base, but a missile struck a home about three miles away, causing minor injuries to two women and two children, Centcom added. Iran-backed militias later on Friday targeted a base in the Conoco gas field, prompting retaliatory strikes by coalition warplanes on targets in and around the city of Deir Ezzor, which also includes several oil fields, causing “material damage.” (HAND).
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