Government condemns U.S. airstrikes on eastern Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Syria’s Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that U.S. airstrikes near the Syrian-Iraqi border resulted in casualties among civilians and military personnel.
The State-run SANA News Agency said in a statement, citing the Ministry of Defense, that the U.S. airstrikes targeted the government forces in the area in which the latter are fighting the Islamic State (ISIS).
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted on Friday airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.
The airstrikes come in response to drone and rocket attacks that targeted the U.S. Tower 22 base in Jordan near the Syrian border late in January and killed three U.S. service members and injured over 40 others.
The purpose of the attacks is to degrade the government forces and Syria’s allies in fighting terrorism, according to the source.
For its part, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that the airstrikes exacerbate the tension in the Middle East, SANA reported in a separate statement.
The statement said that a number of civilians and military personnel were killed in the U.S. airstrikes on areas near the Syrian-Iraqi border.
The airstrikes are a violation of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.
Since the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, American bases in Syria and Iraq have been targeted by Iran-backed militias, and almost all of these attacks have been claimed by the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militia.