“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed several weapon systems in the vicinity of Military Support Site Euphrates that included three truck mounted Multiple Rocket Launchers, a T-64 tank, an armored personnel carrier, and mortars that presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and Coalition forces,” CENTCOM said in a statement about the Tuesday strikes.
The strike was carried out in self-defense after projectiles were fired at US forces stationed at Military Support Site Euphrates, CENTCOM stated.
It also comes amid a dramatic upsurge in violence in Syria, with jihadist and rebel forces taking swathes of territory from government forces, seizing the northern city of Aleppo and expanding their offensive southward into Hama province.
“The ongoing support of regional partners and operations in Syria are unrelated to recent events in northwest Syria,” CENTCOM said, adding that the US mission against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the country “remains unchanged.”
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS, which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared devoid of territorial control in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria have increased since the Palestinian Hamas group carried out a cross-border attack on southern Israel in October 2023. The pro-Iran groups accuse the US of supporting Israel in the fight against Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement - another Iran-backed group.
