On October 27, 2023, the Pentagon said that the U.S. military had begun airstrikes on two targets in eastern Syria connected to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. This was in retaliation for a wave of drone and missile attacks that started early last week against U.S. bases and regional troops.
In an effort to prevent further aggression—which Israel's fight against Hamas might spark—the United States wants to take full action against Iranian-backed groups that it suspects are aiming at the country. At the same time, it wants to avoid escalating the situation and starting a larger conflict.
A senior U.S. military official claimed that two F-16 fighter jets carried out accurate strikes close to Boukamal, hitting locations where the IRGC stored weapons and ammunition.
The U.S. does not currently have any information regarding casualties or an estimate of damage, but the official stated that there had been Iranian-aligned militia and IRGC troops on the base and no civilians. The officer will not disclose the number of missiles fired by the F-16s.
According to a top defence official, the locations were picked because the IRGC keeps the weapons there, the kinds that were used in the attacks on American troops and bases.
Since October 17 in Syria and Iraq, with three more on Thursday. According to Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, two of those assaults that targeted al-Tanf Garrison in Syria and al-Asad Airbase in Iraq using drones resulted in the injuries of twenty-one US personnel.
As of now, the Pentagon reports that at least 19 attacks have targeted American personnel and bases. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stated in a statement that the “precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17.”
He claimed that President Joe Biden supervised the specifically designed strikes. “to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests."
He went on to say that the operation had nothing to do with Israel's conflict with Hamas.
(Photo: AP)
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