U.S. military retaliates with airstrikes on October 27 and November 8
Pro-Iran forces attack US troops in Syria and Iraq 48 times
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on the 13th that eight people were killed in a U.S. airstrike on an armed organization affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in southeastern Syria on the night of the 12th.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) was established in London after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and has been collecting information about local Syrians’ fighting in the civil war and human casualties, verifying it, and reporting it to the world media.
The US Department of Defense announced this immediately after the airstrike in eastern Syria, but did not mention casualties within the target. The Pentagon said F-15Es hit Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and allied militants’ training facility at Abu Kamal and a rocket launcher at Mayadin.
It is said that these Iranian armed groups attacked gas stations and oil facilities at US military bases in eastern Syria and Iraq with rockets and drones. Russian media said that US soldiers died here, but there is no news from SOHR and it has not been objectively proven.
Regarding the retaliatory airstrikes on Sunday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that two buses were hit by airstrikes and that the dead were not Syrian residents.
After the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, there were concerns that Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which supports the Hamas organization, Yemeni Houthi rebels, Iranian militants in Syria and Iraq, and especially Iran, would intervene in the war and escalate into a major Middle East war.
Both Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels are Shiites and receive support from Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard and pro-Iranian militants are establishing many positions in Syria and Iraq, where Shiites are in power.
U.S. troops stationed in Syria and Iraq have been under frequent rocket and drone attacks since the 17th, 10 days after the Israeli-Palestinian war, and the U.S. military has sent an aircraft carrier and increased fighter jets not only to support Israel but also to protect U.S. troops dispatched to the Middle East.
On the 12th, the U.S. Department of Defense said that U.S. soldiers in the Middle East were attacked 48 times in less than a month. There were no deaths, but 56 were injured, two of whom were transported to Germany for treatment.
Prior to this day’s airstrike, the US military launched an airstrike on an Iranian weapons depot in Mysururun, eastern Syria, on the 8th, four days earlier, and also struck an Iranian-related Syrian base on October 27th.
President Joe Biden has responded cautiously to attacks by pro-Iran forces on US troops stationed in Syria and Iraq due to concerns about an escalation of war, and the opposition Republican Party has criticized this.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who is visiting Korea on the 13th, mentioned the retaliatory airstrike in southeastern Syria the night before and emphasized that President Biden is making protecting U.S. troops a top priority and that this airstrike is a good example.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.