US says attacks against forces in Syria, Iraq “unacceptable”
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The recent US airstrike in eastern Syria was conducted in response to attacks that were launched by an Iranian-backed militia against US military bases in Syria and Iraq, Olivia Dalton, White House Deputy Press Secretary said on Thursday.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, following a cross-border attack by Hamas militants, a series of rocket and drone attacks have targeted US bases in Syria and Iraq. Most of these attacks were claimed by the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
“The precision strike was conducted in response to the recent attacks that were directed by the IRGC and affiliated groups against U.S. and Coalition bases in Iraq and Syria,” Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One.
She added that the decision of the airstrike was order by US President Joe Biden “to carry out a self-defense airstrike in eastern Syria against a facility used by the Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups.”
On Thursday, a military source within the Syrian government forces told North Press that US fighter jets launched airstrikes on an ammunition and weapons warehouse belonging to the IRGC near the Bor Saeed Street in the al-Ummal neighborhood in the city center of Deir ez-Zor. They also targeted a weapons storage house on the outskirts of the town of Harabesh adjacent to the city.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement, “U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups.”
“We took this strike to disrupt and degrade the freedom of action and capabilities of these groups directly responsible for attacking U.S. forces who are in Iraq and Syria as part of our mission to defeat ISIS,” Dalton noted.
The White House Deputy Press Secretary stressed that the Iranian-backed militias’ attacks are “unacceptable and cannot continue.”