11 pro-Iran fighters die in retaliatory airstrikes by US after drone attack kills American contractor in Syria
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin
A suspected Iran-affiliated drone killed a US contractor in Syria, Pentagon said in a statement Thursday. The drone struck a facility housing US personnel in northeast Syria, killing one US contractor whileinjuring another besides five other US service members. In response, the US military said it had carried out precision airstrikes in eastern Syria. A war monitor said that11 pro-Iran fighters were killed in the retaliatory strikes.
"US strikes targeted a weapons depots inside Deir Ezzor city, killing six pro-Iran fighters, and two other fighters were killed by strikes targeting the desert of Al-Mayadin, and three others near Albu Kamal," said RamiAbdel Rahman, the head of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A Department of Defence statement said, "A one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria". It informed that a US contractor had been killed and another was injured in the UAV attack. The Pentagon added that the US intelligence community "assessedthe UAV to be of Iranian origin".
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that he had authorised the precision airstrikes in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps at the direction of President Joe Biden.
"The air strikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces inSyriaby groups affiliated with the IRGC," Austin said in a statement.
"No group will strike our troops with impunity."
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If an Iranian drone indeed carried out the attack, it could furtheraggravate already strained tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Pentagon said the attack against US personnel happened at a coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at around 1:38 pm on Thursday. News of both attacks was revealed by the Pentagon at the same time.
Three injured services members and a contractor were taken toIraq for treatment, whiletwo other American troops were treated at the base.
US troops have been targeted by Iranian-backed groups about 78 times since the beginning of 2021, according to Army General Erik Kurilla. He oversees UStroops in the Middle East as the head of Central Command.
(With inputs from agencies)
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