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The US airstrikes in Syria show that Iran can expect consequences for supporting militia groups that threaten US interests and personnel, Joe Biden warned.
“You cannot act with impunity. Be careful,” the US president said when asked what message he intended to send with the airstrikes early Friday morning. Syriathe eastern border with Iraq.
Satellite images show a group of buildings before the airstrike and the destruction of most of them afterward.
The Pentagon said that attacks by two Air Force F-15E jets with seven missiles destroyed nine buildings and severely damaged two others in eastern Syria used by Iranian-backed militias.
The buildings before the airstrikes. Image: 2021 Maxar Technologies
They added that the attacks were not intended to root out groups that used them for attacks inside Iraq, but to show that the United States will act decisively while trying to prevent a widespread regional escalation.
US officials said the airstrikes, Biden’s first military action As president, they were legal and appropriate, removing facilities that housed valuable “capabilities” used by militia groups to attack US and allied forces in Iraq.
Members of Congress were notified before the strikes, but Biden faced opposition from several prominent congressmen from his own party who denounced the strikes.
Democrats said the airstrikes were not authorized by politicians, but Republicans were more supportive, and Senator Jim Inhofe, Republican leader on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the decision was “the correct and proportionate response to protect American lives. “
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president used his constitutional authority to defend American personnel.
He said they were going to deter attacks in the coming weeks and as a result of recent attacks, including a Feb. 15 rocket attack in northern Iraq that killed a civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other troops. of the coalition.
John Kirby, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said the attacks resulted in “casualties” but did not provide further details on how many and what was inside the buildings.
An Iraqi militia official with close ties to Iran said one fighter was killed in the airstrikes and several others were injured.
This is the border area between Syria and Iraq that the US airstrikes targeted. Image: 2021 Maxar Technologies
He said the attacks were against the Kataeb Hezbollah group, or the Hezbollah Brigades, an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group backed by Iran.
It is separate from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and has fighters in Syria to fight the Islamic State (IS) and assist Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces in the civil war.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the war in Syria, said the attacks were targeting a shipment of weapons that were being carried by trucks entering Syria from Iraq.
He said 22 fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi militia group that includes Kataeb Hezbollah, were killed. The report could not be independently verified.
Kataeb Hezbollah confirmed that one of its fighters was killed and said it reserved the right to retaliate, without elaborating.
Syria condemned the airstrikes, calling them “a cowardly and systematic US aggression” and warned they will have consequences.
Donald Trump significantly reduced the number of US forces in Iraq to 2,500 and they are no longer participating in combat missions with Iraqi forces against the Islamic State.
