Syria: American bombardment against pro-Iranian militias
An American Predator drone (Illustrative image).
AP - Kirsty Wigglesworth
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (August 23rd) ordered airstrikes targeting pro-Iranian militia bases in eastern Syria, the US military announced on Wednesday.
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The strikes took place in the province of Deir Ezzor and they targeted "
infrastructure used by groups affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards
", declared the spokesman of the central command of the American army (Centcom), colonel Joe Buccino, in a statement.
The Revolutionary Guard Corps, considered the Iranian regime's ideological army, is on the US blacklist of "
terrorist groups
".
These “
precision strikes
” aim, according to Colonel Buccino, to “
defend and protect American forces from attacks such as those carried out on August 15 by groups supported by Iran
”.
Several drones then attacked an advanced base of the anti-jihadist coalition, according to the Americans who had not deplored any casualties.
The American aerial bombardment on Tuesday hit nine bunkers used in particular for the storage of ammunition, Colonel Bucino then told CNN.
A balance still unclear
US forces had planned to bomb 11 of the 13 bunkers in the compound, but halted strikes on two of them after groups of people were seen in their vicinity, he added.
According to an initial assessment, no one was killed, he said.
“
The United States does not seek conflict but will continue to take the necessary measures to protect and defend our people
,” Colonel Bucino further underlines in the Centcom press release.
US forces “
carried out this proportionate and deliberate operation to limit the risk of escalation and the risk of causing casualties
,” the statement added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), a London-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria, said on Wednesday that six fighters guarding the targets were killed in the strikes. .
Their nationality could not be determined immediately, added the OSDH, stressing that Afghan Shiite fighters supported by Iran were among the groups operating in the region.
Aimed arms depot and training camp
The US bombardment was not immediately confirmed by Syrian state media.
Hundreds of American soldiers are deployed in northeastern Syria as part of the anti-jihadist coalition responsible for fighting, with their Kurdish allies from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the remnants of the Islamic State (IS) group.
Tuesday's bombardment came the same day as Iranian state media announced
the death of a Revolutionary Guards general on
Sunday, killed during a "
mission
" in Syria.
No details were given on the circumstances of the death of the general, just described as a "
defender of the sanctuary
", a term used to designate those who work on behalf of Iran in Syria or Iraq.
Iran says it deployed forces to Syria at the invitation of the Damascus regime and merely as advisers.
Arms depots and a training camp for pro-Iranian militia fighters are among the targets, the OSDH said.
(With
AFP
)
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Syria
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