The US forces - which lead the coalition in Syria - exchanged bombing with factions that Washington says are loyal to Iran, while US President Joe Biden confirmed that he had given orders for the second time in his term to respond.
After the American bombing of Iraqi factions at dawn on Sunday, the American forces in Syria were subjected to missile attacks, and the spokesman for the International Coalition in Syria, Wayne Maroto, confirmed in a tweet on Twitter that the sources of fire were answered by firing artillery shells, as part of what he described as self-defense.
Maroto had made it clear in a previous tweet that the bombing that targeted US forces did not cause any injuries.
It is noteworthy that local sources said earlier that several shells fell in the vicinity of the Al-Omar oil field in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, where the international coalition forces are stationed to fight the Islamic State.
The sources said that the source of these shells was militia sites loyal to the Syrian regime in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, adding that the coalition forces responded to the source of the fire with a number of shells, while the area is witnessing great alertness and tension.
The area north of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor governorate is under the control of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, while the area south of the river is under the control of the Syrian regime forces and militias loyal to it.
"Self-defense"
This comes after US raids targeting facilities used by pro-Iranian groups in two locations in Syria and one in Iraq. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken commented that these raids were in the context of self-defense.
He also expressed his hope that the US response would send an important and very strong message to whom it may concern, in reference to Iran.
Foreign Policy magazine said that the US Department of Defense had monitored for weeks before the Sunday raids drone attacks by pro-Iranian militias against US forces.
The magazine added that the US strikes highlight the growing threat to US forces and their allies and the increasing influence that Iran has built through its proxy forces in Iraq and Syria, according to the magazine.
She noted that US strikes could complicate the fragile talks between the Biden administration and Iran to return to the nuclear deal.
Two US officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that Iranian-backed factions have launched at least 5 drone attacks on facilities used by US and coalition elements in Iraq since last April.
no escalation
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and avoid escalation, against the background of the US raid that targeted the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq on the border with Syria.
For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi condemned - on Monday - the strikes, which he considered a "blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty."
As for Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, he said that "what the United States is doing is destabilizing the security of the region," adding that "one of the victims of instability in the region will be the United States itself."
Syria condemned the "blatant American aggression on the Syrian-Iraqi border region," according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry reported by the official Syrian News Agency (SANA).
The Syrian Foreign Ministry considered the US strike a "flagrant violation of the sanctity of Syrian and Iraqi lands."
On Sunday, the air strikes constituted the second American attack of its kind against Iranian-backed factions in Syria since President Joe Biden took office; Last February, more than 20 Iraqi fighters were killed in US strikes targeting their positions in eastern Syria, according to human rights sources.