12 US troops wounded, 8 Iran-backed militants killed in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – 12 US troops were wounded and eight militants of Iranian-backed militia were killed in strikes and counter-strikes in Syria last week, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
As a result of strikes and counter-strikes between US forces and Iranian-backed militia in Syria last week, 12 US troops were wounded. The attacks also killed an American contractor and injured another.
Six US service members have subsequently been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury as a result of attacks carried out by Iranian-backed militia in Syria, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said four service members suffered traumatic brain injuries at the US base near the northeast Syrian city of Hasakah during a drone attack on March 23.
Two other US troops suffered injuries at mission support site in eastern Syria during an attack on March 24.
“All personnel in the vicinity of a blast are screened for traumatic brain injury. So these additional injuries were identified during post-attack medical screenings,” Ryder told a news briefing.
The Pentagon also estimated eight militants were killed during retaliatory US air strikes against two Iranian-backed facilities in Syria.
Ryder said the militants killed were associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
US President Joe Biden pledged on March 25 to “act forcefully” to protect his troops against Iranian-backed attacks.