US says strikes are in response to repeated attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria (Rep)
Washington:
The United States carried out strikes against two Iran-linked sites in Syria on Sunday in response to attacks on American personnel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
It is the third time in less than three weeks that the US military has struck targets in Syria allegedly linked to Iran, which supports various armed groups that Washington blames for a surge in attacks on its forces in the Middle East might.
“U.S. forces today conducted precision strikes on facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran-affiliated groups in response to ongoing attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria,” Austin said in a statement.
“The attacks were carried out against a training facility and a safe house near the towns of Albu Kamal and Mayadeen,” he said.
The United States targeted a Tehran-linked weapons depot in Syria on Wednesday and also struck two facilities in the country on Oct. 26 that were allegedly used by Iran and affiliated organizations.
Washington says the series of attacks is a response to repeated attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria – more than 45 since October 17 – that have injured dozens of US soldiers.
The rise in attacks on US troops in recent weeks is linked to the war between Israel and Hamas, which began when the Palestinian Hamas group carried out a shocking cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7, Israeli officials said According to reports, around 1,200 people were killed.
The Israeli military responded with a relentless air, land and sea assault on Gaza that killed more than 11,100 people, according to the territory’s health ministry – deaths that sparked widespread anger across the Middle East and criticism of Washington from Iranian-backed groups have triggered.
Around 2,500 US soldiers are stationed in Iraq and around 900 in Syria to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State terrorist militia.
The jihadists once held significant territory in both countries but were pushed back in a bloody, multi-year conflict by local ground forces backed by international airstrikes.
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