US President Joe Biden on Thursday, February 25, authorized a strike in Syria against infrastructure belonging to what the Pentagon has presented as militias supported by Iran.

Qualifying this military operation of "defensive", the spokesman of the American Defense ministry John Kirby, specified that strikes had destroyed "multiple infrastructures located at a border post used by militias supported by Iran, in particular the Kataeb Hezbollah ".

"The strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks on US and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and ongoing threats against such personnel," he said.

"The strikes destroyed three trucks of ammunition (...) There are many deaths. At least 17 fighters perished according to a preliminary assessment, all members of Hachd al-Chaabi", told AFP the director of OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahmane, in reference to the powerful coalition of pro-Iran Iraqi paramilitaries.

The chances of the situation escalating are low, as the strike was limited in scope.

Message

The choice to have struck only in Syria and not in Iraq leaves the Iraqi government the possibility of completing its investigation into the attack on American targets of February 15.

The strike was decided to indicate that the United States wanted to punish the militias without seeing the situation evolve into conflict, said an official American representative, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"This proportionate military response was carried out in parallel with diplomatic measures, in particular consultations with the partners of the" anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria, "said John Kirby.

"The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will protect US forces and those of the coalition," he concluded.

"At the same time, we have acted in a calculated way, in order to calm the situation in eastern Syria and in Iraq."

Three attacks have been blamed on pro-Iranian armed groups in a week, as Washington demands concessions from Tehran before re-entering the agreement from which the United States withdrew in 2018 under the administration of Donald Trump.

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.

With AFP and Reuters

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