Middle East crisis deepens as nearly 40 killed in US strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria

New Delhi

Days after three US troops were killed in Jordan allegedly after attack by an Iraq-based and Iran-linked proxy militant group, the United States on Saturday (Feb 3) targeted a number of sites in both Iraq and Syria, pushing West Asia's edge of conflict further into the lines of war. At the time of filing this report, 40 militants have been killed in the US strikes. 

Across the Atlantic, the Russian representative in the United Nations has called for the UN Security Council meeting over US strikes in Iraq and Syria. 

Also read | Explained | Who is Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group allegedly behind strike on US troops in Jordan?

US President Joe Biden said that he directed the country's military to strike targets in Syria and Iraq.

Washington ordered attack on "IRGC [Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps] and affiliated militia".

The United States has some 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighbouring Iraq as part of an international coalition against the Islamic State group, a jihadist organisation that once controlled swathes of both countries.

Scale of American attack in Iraq and Syria

The US Central Command claimed that its forces hit as many as 85 targets in seven facilities, four in Syria and three in Iraq. The US reportedly used a mix of drones and long-range B1 bombers that flew all the way from the United States in a purported demonstration of the US airpower. 

Iraq's Prime Minister's Office confirmed the US attacks in the Iraqi territory and described it as violation of its sovereignty. It also summoned the US envoy in Baghdad. 

"In this incident, multiple American aircraft bombed locations in the Akashat and Al-Qa'im regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed, alongside nearby civilian areas," Iraq's Prime Minister's Office said in an official statement.

Akashat is located 518 km west of Baghdad, while Al-Qa'im region is 319 km northwest of the Iraqi capital.

The US strikes targeted sites in Iraq's Akashat and Qa'im region | Google Maps

The American invasion of Iraq with Washington's false proclamation of presence of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' in the country, has left a lasting effect on Iraqi life and lifelines. The consequent emergence of the Islamic State (Of Iraq and Syria) also resulted in thousands of civilian deaths. 

For the current wave of attacks on its territory, Iraq has said that "the American side intentionally engaged in deception and distortion of facts, stating coordination with Iraqi authorities for the perpetration of this aggression". 

The Iraqi government said that civilians were among 16 people killed in the US strikes in Iraq. 

Syria's reaction

The Syrian military said on Saturday (Feb 2) that the US occupation of Syrian territory "cannot continue" after Washington carried out deadly strikes in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.

The overnight strikes killed "a number of civilians and soldiers, wounded others and caused significant damage to public and private property", the Syrian military said in a statement.

"The occupation of parts of Syrian territory by US forces cannot continue," it added, affirming the army's "determination to liberate all Syrian territory from terrorism and occupation".

The United States has not struck inside the Iranian territory, with both Washington and Tehran seemingly keen to avoid all-out war.

Are regional proxies responding to US attacks?

The militants of Islamic Resistance in Iraq on Saturday (Feb 2) claimed that they have targeted the al-Harir air base hosting US forces in northern Iraq. But three security sources later told Reuters that no such attack had occurred.

Iran's reaction

Tehran on Saturday (Feb 2) condemned US air strikes on Iraq and Syria as a "strategic mistake" by its arch-foe. Iran, however, did not mention that if there were any Iranian casualties in the strikes.

"Last night's attack on Syria and Iraq is an adventurous action and another strategic mistake by the US government, which will have no result other than intensifying tension and instability in the region," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.

US strikes overnight in eastern Syria killed 23 pro-Iran fighters, a war monitor said in a new toll for the American retaliatory action.

"The toll has risen to 23 dead: 10 pro-Iran fighters in the Deir Ezzor area and 13 in the Mayadeen area," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that nine of the fighters were Syrians while six were Iraqis. There were no reported civilian deaths.

(With inputs from agencies)