The United States on Thursday carried out air strikes against two facilities in eastern Syria which the Pentagon said are used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
It follows a spate of attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria and comes amid fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East as Israel prepares a ground assault on Hamas in Gaza.
The strikes were ordered by President Biden and were in “self-defence”, the Pentagon said.
“These precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” said Lloyd Austin, the Defence Secretary.
According to the Pentagon, since October 17 there were 12 attacks on US bases and troops in Iraq and another four in Syria.
At least 21 people working for the American military received minor injuries in two of the attacks in which drones targeted al-Asad Airbase in Iraq and al-Tang Garrison in Syria, said US Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder. A contractor died after going into cardiac arrest while sheltering from one of the drone strikes.
Mr Austin said President Joe Biden directed the strikes “to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.”
US officials have not publicly tied the recent string of attacks in Syria and Iraq to the violence in Gaza, but Iranian officials have openly criticised Washington for providing weapons to Israel.
Mr Austin said the latest military operation was separate and distinct from Israel’s war against Hamas. He stressed that the US was not seeking a broader conflict in the region but would not hesitate to protect its forces if attacks on them continued.
Such retaliation and strikes against Iranian targets in Syria after similar attacks on American bases are routine.
In March, the US hit sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after an Iranian-linked attack killed a US contractor and wounded seven other Americans. That time, American F-15 fighter jets flying out of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar struck several locations around Deir el-Zour.