The loss of life toll from retaliatory US strikes on Iran-linked teams in Syria following a lethal drone assault has risen to 19, a struggle monitor mentioned Saturday, as Washington insisted it’s not searching for battle with Tehran.
Further rocket assaults by Iran-backed militias befell late Friday, prompting extra strikes by coalition warplanes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Washington carried out the preliminary strikes after the Pentagon mentioned a US contractor died — and one other contractor and 5 navy personnel have been wounded — by a drone “of Iranian origin” that struck a US-led coalition base close to Hasakeh in northeastern Syria on Thursday.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned that, at President Joe Biden’s route, he had ordered the “precision air strikes… in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”.
On Saturday, the Britain-based Observatory, which has a large community of sources on the bottom, mentioned 19 folks have been killed within the first wave of US strikes: three Syrian regime troopers and 16 members of Iran-backed forces, together with 11 Syrian nationals.
Following the strikes, Biden sought to decrease the temperature saying the United States “does not seek conflict with Iran, but is prepared to act forcefully to protect our people”.
More rocket assaults
Hours after the strikes, 10 rockets have been fired at American and coalition forces on the Green Village base in northeast Syria, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) mentioned.
There have been no accidents or injury to services on the base, however one rocket struck a house round 5 kilometres (three miles) away, inflicting minor wounds to 2 girls and two kids, CENTCOM added.
Iran-backed militias later Friday focused a base within the Conoco gasoline area, prompting retaliatory strikes from coalition warplanes on targets in Deir Ezzor metropolis, the Observatory mentioned.
The struggle monitor mentioned rocket hearth then focused coalition services on the Al-Omar oil area base and within the japanese countryside of Deir Ezzor, “causing material damage”.
A “cautious calm” returned to the Deir Ezzor space within the early hours of Saturday morning, the Observatory mentioned.
Militias affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have a heavy presence throughout Syria, particularly across the border with Iraq, and south of the Euphrates in Deir Ezzor province, the place the newest US strikes befell.
The United States has about 900 troops in posts throughout northeastern Syria to maintain strain on the remnants of the Islamic State group and assist the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which management many of the northeast.
The Pentagon mentioned two F-15 fighters launched the retaliatory assault — which spokesman Pat Ryder mentioned was to guard US personnel.
The strikes “were intended to send a very clear message that we will take the protection of our personnel seriously and that we will respond quickly and decisively if they are threatened,” he mentioned.
They have been “proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation to minimise casualties,” he mentioned.
‘Always reply’
US personnel in Syria have ceaselessly been focused in assaults by militia teams the United States says are backed by Tehran.
Two of the US service members wounded on Thursday have been handled on website, whereas the three different troops and one US contractor have been evacuated to Iraq, the Pentagon mentioned.
“We will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” mentioned CENTCOM chief General Michael Kurilla.
In January, the US navy mentioned three one-way assault drones have been launched towards the Al-Tanf garrison in Syria, with one breaching its air defences and wounding two allied Syrian fighters.
Last August, Biden ordered related retaliatory strikes in Deir Ezzor province after a number of drones focused a coalition outpost, with out inflicting any casualties.
“We know that these groups are sponsored by Iran,” Ryder mentioned.
“So Iran certainly plays a role in terms of ensuring that this type of activity doesn’t happen,” he mentioned. —Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com