US says it struck Iran-linked sites in Syria after attacks on its troops
US officials have not publicly tied the recent string of attacks in Syria and Iraq to the violence in Gaza, but Iranian officials have criticised the US for providing weapons to Israel that have been used to strike Gaza.
According to the Pentagon, as of Thursday there had been at least 19 attacks on US bases and personnel in Iraq and Syria since October 17. / Photo: Reuters
US fighter jets have launched airstrikes on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), the Pentagon said, in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against US bases and personnel in the region that began early last week.
According to a senior US military official, the strikes were carried out on Friday near Boukamal by two F-16 fighter jets, and they struck weapons and ammunition storage areas that were connected to the IRGC.
The official said there had been Iranian-aligned militia and IRGC personnel on the base and no civilians, but the US does not have any information yet on casualties or an assessment of damage.
The official would not say how many munitions were launched by the F-16s.
A senior defence official said the sites were chosen because the IRGC stores the types of munitions there that were used in the strikes against US bases and troops.
The two officials briefed reporters after the strikes on condition of anonymity to provide details on the mission that had not yet been made public.
'The farms' and 'green belt'
Syrian opposition activists confirmed the US strikes in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, said the main target was an area known as "the farms" outside the town of Mayadeen.
He said it is an important transit site where weapons from Iran are stored before being shipped to Lebanon.
He said the second strike hit an area known as the "green belt" in the Boukamal area that borders Iraq.
According to Abu Layla, some people were evacuated before the strikes because the retaliation was expected.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said ambulances were seen rushing to the area but it wasn't clear if there were casualties.
Meanwhile Friday, an Iranian semiofficial news agency, Tasnim, said gunmen in east Syria fired 10 rockets on a base housing American troops in retaliation for the US airstrikes.
A US official confirmed the rocket attack and said there were no reported casualties.
And, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — an umbrella group for several Iran-backed groups — said fighters attacked Al Assad airbase in western Iraq with a suicide drone. US officials said it was shot down a few kilometres away and did not hit the base.
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