Syria: US military strikes pro-Iranian militias

A US Air Force F16 fighter.

Source: Wikipedia;

US Air Force photo

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3 min

The United States on Thursday struck infrastructure used by pro-Iranian militias in northeastern Syria, killing 17 people.

This is the first military operation of the administration of Joe Biden.

A response to recent attacks on Western interests in Iraq.

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According to preliminary information from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), the airstrikes destroyed three trucks of ammunition arriving from Iraq at an illegal border post south of the city Syrian woman from Boukamal.

There are a lot of deaths.

At least 17 fighters perished according to a preliminary assessment, all members of Hachd al-Chaabi,

 ”OSDH director Rami Abdel Rahmane told AFP, referring to the powerful coalition of pro-Iran Iraqi paramilitaries.

US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby described the military operation as "

defensive

"

in a statement

.

He said that strikes had destroyed "

multiple infrastructures located at a border post used by militias supported by Iran, in particular Kataeb Hezbollah

".

"

The strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against US and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and ongoing threats against such personnel,

 " he said.

"Calculated" reprisals

As President Joe Biden awaits a gesture from Tehran before reinstating the agreement Washington withdrew in 2018 under Donald Trump's administration, three attacks have been blamed on pro-Iranian armed groups in recent days.

On Monday,

rockets fell near the US embassy in Baghdad

.

On Saturday, fire targeted the Iraqi air base of Balad, further north, injuring an Iraqi employee of a US company responsible for the maintenance of F-16.

On February 15,

rockets hit a military base

hosting foreign coalition troops at Erbil airport (north).

Two people were killed, including a foreign civilian contractor working with the coalition.

Although Kataeb Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin has assured that the powerful pro-Iran organization is responsible for them.

(

AFP

)

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  • Syria

  • United States

  • Iran