U.S. airstrikes in Syria, Iraq “valid military targets” – White House
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The sites targeted by U.S. strikes in Syria and Iraq were “valid military targets,” White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday.
Vowing U.S. retaliation against any attacks that threaten American troops, Sullivan said, “What happened on Friday was the beginning, not the end of our response, and that there will be more steps, some seen, some perhaps unseen.”
On Friday, U.S. forces targeted facilities of Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone attack on Jan. 28, targeting a U.S. base in northeast Jordan. The attack resulted in the death of three American soldiers and in the injury of 40 others.
The Islamic Resistence in Iraq, an umbrella term for a coalition of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Although Washington has not officially blamed Iran for the attack, “we know that Iran is behind these militia groups, they train them, they fund them, they arm them… And they do have influence with them,” Sullivan said.
The U.S. attacks in Syria alone resulted in the killing of at least 20 militants of Iran-backed groups and the destruction of at least 26 sites in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria.
The National Security Advisor stressed that the U.S. will not tolerate any attacks from Iran-backed militias.
“The United States’ approach is going to be, which is that if we continue to see threats and attacks from these militia groups, we will respond to them. And we will hold those responsible accountable,” Sullivan noted.