Responding To Attacks In Syria, US Military Deploys Apache Helicopters To M777 Artillery: Four Militia Killed, Destroys Rocket Launchers

Illustration AH-64 Apache helicopter. (Wikimedia Commons/US Army/Capt. Jesse Paulsboe)

JAKARTA - The United States (US) military killed four "enemy fighters" over the past 24 hours, destroying a rocket launcher used by Iran-backed militants in Syria, the military's Central Command (Centcom) said Thursday.

"Over the past 24 hours, in response to yesterday's rocket attacks on the Conoco Mission Support Site and the Green Village Mission Support Site in northeastern Syria, Centcom forces attacked Iran-affiliated militants in the area with AH-64 Apache, AC-130 attack helicopters. M777 gunships and artillery, which resulted in the deaths of four enemy fighters and the destruction of seven enemy rocket launchers," Centcom reported.

Centcom's announcement points to the ongoing spate of proxy battles in Syria.

On Wednesday, three US service members were announced to have been injured in a rocket attack in Syria, carried out by suspected Iran-backed militants.

The rockets landed at the Conoco and Green Village sites in northeastern Syria, prompting a US response with attack helicopters.

The exchange of fire between American troops and Iranian-backed fighters followed US airstrikes on 'Iran-related' targets in the country.

Centcom believes about three insurgents were killed in its response to rocket attacks the previous week, a number also reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In total, the monitoring group said the toll for the Iran-backed group in the last day had risen to nine as of Thursday evening.

Separately, Democratic Congressional leaders in Washington hailed the backlash, praised President Joe Biden, and called it a counter-terrorism operation.

"By ordering this self-defense operation, President Biden is acting to protect American troops and the American people," Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Washington said the government's position on continuing negotiations on the nuclear deal could strengthen Iran's stance beyond its borders.

"These Iranian proxy attacks on US service members show why we can't cut a bad nuclear deal with Iran," said Michael McCaul, the Republican leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"The Biden administration must abandon this bad deal that will trigger Iranian terrorist attacks against US soldiers and citizens," he said.