The web site was a Syrian weapons storage facility and command heart.
November 13, 2023, 4:53 a.m. ET
• 4 minute learn
U.S. army plane struck a weapons storage facility and command and management heart utilized by Iranian-linked militants in Syria on Sunday, officers mentioned within the newest retaliatory strike as assaults on U.S. forces proceed within the Middle East.
“Within the previous two hours, the United States performed precision defensive strikes towards two strongholds in Syria,” one of many officers informed ABC News.
The operation comes after the Israel-Hamas struggle started final month following a Hamas terrorist assault that left dozens of U.S. troopers injured in continued assaults by Iranian-backed proxy fighters, the protection mentioned. This was finished in response to a name from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The U.S. army mentioned the assault was half of a bigger deterrence technique aimed toward stopping different teams from escalating the battle within the area, the place tensions have soared attributable to combating between Israel and Hamas. mentioned.
“The President has directed at this time’s actions to clarify that there isn’t any higher precedence than the security of American personnel, and that the United States will shield our nation, our personnel, and our pursuits,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mentioned in an announcement Sunday. Ta.
At a information convention in South Korea on Monday, Austin mentioned the assault was “supposed to disrupt and cut back the liberty of motion and talent” of the group “immediately answerable for assaults on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria.” ” he added. Siku.
“And we’ve mentioned, and proceed to say, that we are going to take all mandatory steps to guard our army, the security of our troopers, and our civilians. That is of paramount significance to the President of the United States and to me. ”’ Austin mentioned.
Gen. Michael Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, additionally issued an announcement calling the strikes a “response” to “continued provocations by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its associates in Iraq and Syria.”
“The United States continues to guard our nation, our folks, and our pursuits,” the assertion concluded.
According to the Pentagon, this airstrike was the third spherical of retaliation. The army mentioned Wednesday that warplanes struck a weapons storage facility in jap Syria utilized by Iran-backed militants answerable for dozens of drone and rocket assaults on U.S. forces. Have been within the space prior to now 3 weeks.
“We maintain Iran answerable for these assaults, not simply the militias,” a senior protection official informed reporters on the time.
Undated picture of Lt. MQ-9 Reaper.Col. Leslie Pratt/U.S. Air Force/Associated Press
The struggle broke out on Oct. 7, 10 days after Hamas launched assaults on Israel, with Iran-backed militants launching a sequence of near-daily invasions, U.S. officers mentioned. Stated.
Iran-linked attackers “in every case have been firing on what seemed to be very giant numbers of U.S. army personnel with the intent to kill,” a senior army official mentioned final week.
On October 26, US warplanes of their first strike struck two weapons and ammunition services in jap Syria that officers mentioned have been utilized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its associates.
“Iran desires to cover its hand and deny its position in these assaults on our troops, and we won’t tolerate them,” Austin mentioned on the time. “If assaults on U.S. forces by Iranian proxies proceed, we won’t hesitate to take additional mandatory steps to guard our folks.”
ABC News’ Lauren Minoa contributed to this report.