It’s the second time in roughly 2 weeks that the US has focused a location in Syria. (Representational)
Washington:
US warplanes carried out a strike on an Iran-linked weapons storage facility in jap Syria on Wednesday in response to assaults towards American personnel, US Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin stated.
It’s the second time in roughly two weeks that america has focused a location in Syria it stated was tied to Iran, which helps an array of teams that Washington blames for a spike in assaults on its forces within the Center East.
The USA is striving to discourage Iran and its proxies from turning the Israel-Hamas combating right into a regional battle, however the repeated assaults and strikes in response threat a battle between Washington and Tehran.
“US navy forces carried out a self-defense strike on a facility in jap Syria utilized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated teams. This strike was carried out by two US F-15s towards a weapons storage facility,” Austin stated in an announcement.
“This precision self-defense strike is a response to a collection of assaults towards US personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Pressure associates,” Austin stated, including that america “is totally ready to take additional essential measures to guard our individuals and our services.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights battle monitor stated the Wednesday strike killed 9 individuals affiliated with Iran-backed teams in Syria — a toll that would not be independently confirmed.
The US navy additionally hit two services in Syria on October 26 that it stated had been utilized by the IRGC and affiliated teams, and assessed that these strikes didn’t trigger casualties.
Like the latest strike, Washington stated the sooner two had been in response to assaults on US personnel, who’ve been focused greater than 40 instances with rockets and drones since October 17.
– MQ-9 drone shot down –
The surge in assaults on US troops is linked to the battle between Israel and Hamas, which started when the militant group carried out a shock cross-border assault from Gaza on October 7 that Israeli officers say killed greater than 1,400 individuals.
Israel’s navy responded with a relentless air, land and naval assault on Gaza that the territory’s well being ministry stated has left greater than 10,500 individuals lifeless.
There are roughly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and a few 900 in Syria as a part of efforts to forestall a resurgence of the Islamic State group.
The jihadists as soon as held vital territory in each nations however had been pushed again by native floor forces supported by worldwide air strikes in a bloody multi-year battle.
In one other incident linked to the Israel-Hamas battle, the Huthis — who seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014 and management massive swathes of the nation — stated Wednesday that they shot down an American drone.
“Our air defenses had been capable of down an American MQ-9 whereas it was finishing up hostile surveillance and espionage actions in Yemeni territorial waters as a part of American navy help” for Israel, the rebels stated in an announcement.
A senior protection official from america — which rushed navy help to Israel and in addition bolstered American forces within the area after the October 7 assault — confirmed that one of many nation’s drones was downed.
The Huthis are against authorities forces in Yemen and are additionally a part of the “axis of resistance” of teams arrayed towards Israel.
They’ve claimed accountability for a number of drone and missile assaults towards Israel throughout its battle with Hamas, and the US Navy intercepted missiles fired by the rebels final month.
A collection of MQ-9 drones — which might fly greater than 1,100 miles (1,700 kilometers) at altitudes of as much as 50,000 ft (15,000 meters) and can be utilized for each surveillance and strikes — have been misplaced or broken lately, together with one america assessed was downed by the Huthis in 2019.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
