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 on Friday, at least eleven fighters from a militia allied with Iran were killed.
The Pentagon said a U.S. military contractor was killed and another contractor and five U.S. soldiers were injured in the suspected Iranian drone attack on a military base near Al-Hassaka in the northeast. According to the intelligence services, the drone was of "Iranian origin".
A short time later, the US military responded with several airstrikes in eastern Syria. The aim was to set up groups "that are in contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards," Austin 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 on Friday.
Six militiamen killed
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory, which has been documenting the violence in Syria since 2011, the US attacks on Friday night were aimed at targets in and around Dair as-Saur. Among other things, six militiamen were killed in attacks on 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. Last year, IS claimed about 280 attacks in Syria.
Since taking office, US President Biden has repeatedly attacked targets of militias loyal to Iran in Syria. Biden and the US military spoke of retaliation for attacks against US forces in Iraq in the attacks in August 2022 and June 2021.
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.
