After a US citizen was killed in a drone strike in Syria, the US military attacked targets of allies of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards there. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he approved the airstrikes in the east of the country on instructions from US President Joe Biden. According to human rights activists, at least eleven fighters from a militia allied with Iran were killed.
A US military contractor was killed and another and five US soldiers injured in the suspected Iranian drone attack on a military base near Al-Hassakah in the northeast, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said the drone was “of Iranian origin.”
The New York Times, citing US government officials, reported that the air defense system at the military base was not fully operational at the time of the attack. The cause of the failure is still being investigated. It is also unclear whether the attackers knew about the disruption. Pentagon spokesman Ryder said the radar system gave a complete picture. In addition, the circumstances of the attack would be investigated.
Kirby: “We don’t want war with Iran”
Shortly after the attack, the US military responded with airstrikes. The aim was to set up groups “that are in contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” Austin said. It was two air strikes on two targets, Ryder said. The “precision strikes” are intended to ensure the protection and defense of US troops. “No group can attack our troops with impunity,” Austin said.
According to the communications director of the National Security Council, John Kirby, the United States does not want a military conflict with Iran. “We don’t want a war with Iran,” Kirby told CNN.
In retaliation for the US air strikes, the “Green Village” military base in northeastern Syria was attacked with ten missiles, Ryder said. However, no soldiers were injured. It is assumed that groups supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are also behind the attacks, Ryder said.
Biden also stressed that he was not looking for a conflict with Iran. “But be prepared that we will act forcefully to protect our people,” he said at a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa. That’s exactly what the US has now made clear. “We will continue our efforts to combat terrorist threats in the region,” Biden said.
On Thursday, the commander of US troops in the region, General Erik Kurilla, testified on Iranian attacks in a congressional committee in Washington. US troops in Syria and Iraq have been attacked “about 78 times” by forces allied with Tehran since the beginning of 2021, Kurilla said. Iran is now “immeasurably more capable” militarily than it was five years ago and has the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the region, with thousands of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
900 US troops stationed in Syria
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the US attacks were directed against targets in and near Dair as-Saur. Among other things, six militiamen were killed at a weapons depot. In addition, troops from the US-led coalition arrested several people in the vicinity of the attacked military base.
US troops were sent to Syria in 2015 to help fight the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia. Around 900 US soldiers are currently stationed there fighting IS, most of them in the east of the country. They are there “to defeat IS,” Kirby said. He acknowledged that IS continues to pose a threat in the region. It’s a dangerous environment, Kirby said, and ISIS is still able to launch attacks.
The IS had controlled large areas in Syria and neighboring Iraq. Despite the military victory over IS announced in 2019, its cells are still active in the country and carry out attacks. In 2022, IS claimed about 280 attacks in Syria. Since taking office, US President Biden has repeatedly attacked targets of militias loyal to Iran in Syria.
Alongside Russia, Iran is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most important ally in the civil war. His government controls about two-thirds of the fragmented country, including most of the larger cities including the capital Damascus.
