The U.S. Air Force carried out strikes against military targets in Syria on Sunday night as Iranian-backed military proxies continued to attack American forces in the region.
“US military forces conducted precision strikes today on facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] and Iran-affiliated groups in response to continued attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “The strikes were conducted against a training facility and a safe house near the cities of Albu Kamal and Mayadeen, respectively.”
The announcement comes as American forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked nearly 50 times since mid October, leading to dozens of wounded service personnel and at least one death. There are over 3,000 American soldiers stationed across the Middle East, mostly in Iraq and Syria, whose continued presence in the region is meant to assist local forces in combatting remnants of the Islamic State.
Some Republicans have blasted President Joe Biden for not responding more forcefully to attacks on U.S. forces. “The message to terrorists must be clear: attacks on U.S. servicemembers, assets, and interests will not be tolerated,” Representative Mike Rogers (R., Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said following the first wave of attacks. “Hitting a storage facility should not be the final response by the U.S.”
GOP presidential candidates, including the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, have also raised the alarm about the growing threat that Iran poses to American regional interests.
However, the White House had defended its approach, citing its aim to avoid a great confrontation with Iran. “We want to make sure we can contain this conflict to Israel and Hamas, and we have not seen this conflict widen,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said amid Republican pushback. “We are sending a message, and I think the message has been received.”
Last Wednesday, the Air Force struck a weapons cache used by the IRGC following an Iranian-led assault on America and coalition forces at Omar Oil Fields near Mission Support Site Green Village in Syria. Part of the attack included a one-way “suicide” drone raid on forces at Mission Support Site Euphrates, Syria. Three soldiers reportedly suffered injuries in the attack on Green Village, with two of the service members suffering traumatic brain injuries, and the third left with minor injuries.
“If these attacks continue against our personnel, we won’t hesitate at a time and place of our choosing to respond again,” Singh told the press during a briefing last week. “We were able to render that building pretty much non-usable.”
In late October, two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to destroy military infrastructure linked to the IRGC in eastern Syria, including an ammunition storage facility. “These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups,” Secretary Austin said in a statement released after the strike.
“The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop,” Austin continued. “Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.”
The response came barely a week after American personnel were repeatedly targeted by Iranian-backed militia groups in Syria and Iraq, leading to the death of an American contractor from a cardiac incident.