WASHINGTON, US
The US military launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, 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.
The US strikes reflect the
Biden administration’s determination to maintain a delicate balance. The US
wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the US as strongly as
possible to deter future aggression, possibly fueled by Israel’s war against
Hamas, while also working to avoid inflaming the region and provoking a wider
conflict.
Information about the specific
targets and other details were not yet provided.
According to the Pentagon,
there have been at least 12 attacks on US bases and personnel in Iraq and four
in Syria since Oct. 17. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said 21 US personnel
were injured in two of those assaults that used drones to target Al-Asad
Airbase in Iraq and Al-Tanf Garrison in Syria.
In a statement, Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin said the “precision self-defense 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.”
He said President Joe Biden
directed the narrowly tailored strikes “to make clear that the United States
will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its
interests.” And he added that the operation was separate and distinct from
Israel’s war against Hamasa.
Austin said the US does not
seek a broader conflict, but if Iranian proxy groups continue, the US won’t
hesitate to take additional action to protect its forces.
According to the Pentagon, all
the US personnel hurt in the militant attacks received minor injuries and all
returned to duty. In addition, a contractor suffered a cardiac arrest and died
while seeking shelter from a possible drone attack.
The retaliatory strikes came
as no surprise. Officials at the Pentagon and the White House have made it
clear for the past week that the US would respond, with Ryder saying again
Thursday that it would be “at the time and place of our choosing.”
“I think we’ve been crystal
clear that we maintain the inherent right of defending our troops and we will
take all necessary measures to protect our forces and our interests overseas,”
he told reporters during a Pentagon briefing earlier in the day.
The latest spate of strikes by
the Iranian-linked groups came in the wake of a deadly explosion at a Gaza
hospital, triggering protests in a number of Muslim nations.
The Israeli military has
relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Hamas rampage in
southern Israel nearly three weeks ago, but Israel has denied responsibility
for the Al-Ahli hospital blast and the US has said its intelligence assessment
found that Tel Aviv was not to blame.
The US, including the
Pentagon, has repeatedly said any strike response by America would be directly
tied to the attacks on the troops, and not connected to the war between Israel
and Hamas. Such retaliation and strikes against Iranian targets in Syria after
similar attacks on US bases are routine.
In March, for example, the US
struck 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 in northeast Syria.
American F-15 fighter jets
flying out of Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar struck several locations around Deir
Ezzor.
US officials have routinely
stressed that the American response is designed to be proportional, and is
aimed at deterring strikes against US personnel who are focused on the fight
against the Daesh group.
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 criticized the US for providing weapons to
Israel that have been used to strike Gaza, resulting in civilian death.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, has
beefed up air defenses in the region to protect US forces. The US has said it
is sending several batteries of Patriot missile systems, a Terminal High
Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and additional fighter jets.
The THAAD is being sent from
Fort Bliss, Texas, and the Patriot batteries are from Fort Liberty in North
Carolina and Fort Sill in Oklahoma. An Avenger air defense system from Fort
Liberty is also being sent.
Officials have said as much as
two battalions of Patriots are being deployed. A battalion can include at least
three Patriot batteries, which each have six to eight launchers.
Ryder said Thursday that about
900 troops have deployed or are in the process of going to the Middle East
region, including those associated with the air defense systems.
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