The Pentagon said on Sunday that its forces have conducted more precision strikes on targets in eastern Syria. The strikes were in response to continued attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the Nov. 12 operations were against facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran-affiliated groups.
“The strikes were conducted against a training facility and a safe house near the cities of Abu Kamal and Mayadin, respectively.
“The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” he added.
Since Oct. 17, U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria have been the victims of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks by militia groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Republic. In the past, the Pentagon has claimed these attacks on U.S. personnel are a separate issue from the ongoing Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza Strip. However, Iran and other groups involved have threatened to increase their assaults on U.S. troops should Israel pursue its invasion of Gaza to uproot and eliminate Hamas.
The repeated attacks prompted U.S.-led coalition forces to begin live-fire exercises at bases in the region last month, and launch airstrikes against locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The U.S. military has deployed 1,200 service members to the Middle East as well. Duties of the troops will reportedly involve operating air defense elements and support tasks, including communications and explosive ordnance disposal.
Last week, two U.S. F-15s conducted a strike against a weapons facility used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups in eastern Syria, in what Mr. Austin called “a self defense strike” at the direction of President Joe Biden.
A U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone was also shot down in international airspace near Yemen on Nov. 8, according to a Department of Defense (DOD) official.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, a DOD official confirmed that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi forces had shot down a Reaper drone. The Houthis are a Zaydi Shiite movement that has been fighting Yemen’s internationally-recognized government since 2004. The Houthis took over the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in September 2014, triggering a brutal civil war and humanitarian crisis in the country.
The U.S. military previously carried out multiple airstrikes in Syria on March 23 against Iran-aligned groups blamed for a drone attack.
Strikes Come Amid Heightened Tensions in Middle East
The ongoing strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria and the deployment of U.S. troops come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following the Oct. 7 massacre by the Hamas terrorist group on Israel’s civilians. Israel declared war in response to what it has described as its 911 and has been conducting ongoing military operations in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims so far, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed. Those numbers have not been independently verified, with Israel challenging that Hamas fire may also be responsible for many of the Palestinian lives lost and that it’s doing its best to minimize civilian casualties.
In a revised death toll, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson revealed on Nov. 9 roughly 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the Oct. 7 attack, down from a previous government estimate of 1,400. A further 240 others were abducted. Israeli authorities reportedly revised the number because they suspect that “a lot of” unidentified corpses previously included in the tally were Hamas terrorists killed by Israeli Defencs Forces (IDF).
From The Epoch Times
