US has struck Iran-linked site in Syria
The US, for the second time in recent weeks, has carried out strikes against a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said was used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups, The Guardian reports.
US and coalition troops have been attacked at least 40 times in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed forces since the start of October, as fears grow that the Israel-Hamas war could spread in the region. Forty-five US troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries or minor wounds.
In a statement, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday’s strikes were conducted by two US F-15 fighters and were in response to the recent attacks against US forces.
Austin said the attacks against US troops must stop. “If attacks by Iran’s proxies against US forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people,” Austin added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Wednesday’s strike killed nine people affiliated with Iran-backed groups in Syria – a toll that could not be independently confirmed.
The US has occasionally carried out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed forces in the region after they attack American forces. On 26 October, US forces attacked two facilities used by the IRGC and groups it backs.
The US has 900 troops in Syria, and 2,500 more in neighbouring Iraq, on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later defeated.
