US strikes Iran-backed weapons storage facility in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US late Wednesday carried out a strike against a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in retaliation for attacks against American personnel in Iraq and Syria, the Department of Defense said in a statement.

“Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern Syria … by two U.S. F-15s against a weapons storage facility,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

US troops in Iraq and Syria have come under target of a series of rocket and drone attacks by pro-Iran militias since mid-October, in retaliation to Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for their cross-border incursion into Israel on October 7.

“This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates,” the statement added. “The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said nine people affiliated with Iran-backed groups were killed in the strike.

It is the second strike in two weeks by Washington against pro-Iran positions in Syria. On October 26, the US targeted two facilities used by IRGC and its affiliates in a similar strike, again saying the strikes were in response to attacks on US troops and bases.

US bases in Iraq and Syria have been attacked more than 40 times with rocket and drones since mid-October. The attacks have been claimed by Iran-backed militias such as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with the IRGC.

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.

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