The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that “precision strikes” were being carried out in eastern Syria targeting two facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
And inside Conference US Department of Defense spokesman General Pat Ryder revealed that the Pentagon had carried out two strikes by an F-15E fighter that targeted two Iranian Revolutionary Guard posts near Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria.
Ryder said the Pentagon continues to assess the results of the strikes after two facilities were destroyed, according to preliminary indications.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. strikes came in response to a drone strike that targeted a maintenance facility at a coalition base near Hasakah in northeastern Syria, killing one U.S. contractor and wounding five U.S. soldiers and another U.S. contractor.
The Pentagon announced that US intelligence services considered the drone to be of “Iranian origin”.
“The information that we have and that has been provided by our intelligence community is that this drone is of Iranian origin and that the groups that carried out this attack are associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” Ryder said.
AFP reported that 14 pro-Iranian militants were killed as a result of the US airstrikes between Thursday night and Friday.
These “precision strikes” are aimed at protecting and protecting American personnel, Ryder said, explaining that Washington has taken proportionate measures to reduce the risk of escalation and minimize losses.
“Secretary (Lloyd) Austin, along with the Department of Defense, extends our prayers to the family and co-workers of the American contractor killed in the attack, and to the other people injured in the attack.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the US airstrikes targeted several locations in eastern Syria, particularly the weapons depot of pro-Iranian groups inside the city of Deir Ezzor, leading to its complete destruction and the killing of six of its members. .
Reid said Washington’s focus in Syria was on “defeating ISIS” and insisted the US was “not seeking confrontation and escalation with Iran”.
He said the strikes were intended to send a “very clear message that we take the safety of our employees seriously and if they are threatened we will respond swiftly and decisively”.
Likewise, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that US bombing targeted bases in the desert city of al-Mayadeen and the countryside of al-Bukamal, killing eight fighters loyal to Tehran.
Rami Abdel-Rahman, the lab’s director, told AFP, “Pro-Tehran groups stationed near al-Mayadeen town fired three missiles on Friday morning, two of which landed in the al-Omar stadium compound without damage. The third landed in a civilian home”. It includes a base for US forces leading the international coalition against the Islamic State.
A spokesman for the US military’s Middle East Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the attack. “We can confirm that the missile strike took place in the Green Zone (the name used for al-Omar field) in Syria,” Major John Moore told AFP.
Later, Capt. Abigail Hummock, another spokeswoman for the US Central Command, reported that “at approximately 8:05 am (06:05 GMT) ten missiles were fired into Syria.”
The missile that hit the house fell 5 kilometers from the base, “causing serious damage and slightly injuring two women and two children,” he told AFP.
For its part, the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces announced that two civilians had been wounded in the missile strikes.
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