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US long-range bomber
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After US attacks on positions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and militias allied with Tehran in Syria and Iraq, Damascus has reported fatalities and "significant damage." In the nighttime attacks, "a number of civilians and soldiers were killed" and others were injured, Syrian state media quoted the military as saying, according to the AFP news agency. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights previously said at least 18 pro-Iranian fighters were killed in attacks in eastern Syria.
It goes on to say that the Syrian army is determined to “free the entire Syrian territory from terrorism and occupation.” The Foreign Ministry in Damascus also condemned the attacks. The US's actions have helped fuel the conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way, Reuters quoted a statement as saying.
Iraq's government reported 16 dead and 25 injured and condemned the attacks as a "new aggression against Iraqi sovereignty." Around 900 soldiers are still stationed in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist militia and around 2,500 in Iraq.
The US bombed targets in Iraq and Syria linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the militias they support in retaliation for the deaths of three US soldiers in a drone strike in Jordan. US President Joe Biden announced that the attacks would continue in due course. (Read more here: America's First Salvo)
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the nightly US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as a "violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the countries. The attacks are "another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will only lead to more tension and instability in the region," said a statement, according to Reuters.
sak/AFP/Reuters