US Attacks Iran-Backed Militant Facilities in Syria After Drone Attacks Kill Americans

Defense Minister Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley gave a joint statement. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of Defense)

JAKARTA - The United States military launched airstrikes on facilities of Iran-backed militants in Syria, after a drone strike killed a US contractor and wounded five US troops, according to the Pentagon.

The attack on US personnel and the reprisal were disclosed by the Pentagon at the same time Thursday evening. It said the attack on US personnel took place at a coalition base near Hasakah in northeastern Syria around 1:38 p.m. (10:38 GMT) on Thursday, the Pentagon said.

Meanwhile, US intelligence assessed the one-way drone strike had come from Iran, the military said, a conclusion that could exacerbate already strained relations between Washington and Tehran.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the retaliatory strikes were carried out at the direction of President Joe Biden and targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"The airstrikes were carried out in response to today's attacks as well as the recent series of attacks on Coalition forces in Syria by IRGC-affiliated groups," Minister Austin said in a statement.

"No group will attack our troops without retaliation," he said.

Separately, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war in Syria, said US strikes had killed eight pro-Iranian fighters in Syria.

Earlier, drone attacks on US personnel resulted in injuries, leaving three service members and a contractor, requiring medical evacuation to Iraq, where the US-led coalition fighting remnants of Islamic State has medical facilities, the Pentagon said. Two other injured US soldiers were being treated at a base in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon added.

It is known that US forces have so far experienced about 78 incursions by Iranian-backed groups since 2021, according to CENTCOM Commander General Erik Kurilla.

Troop bases in Iraq, where Iran also has control, have also been the target of drone and rocket attacks in recent years.

General Kurilla, who testified before the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, warned about Iran's drone fleet.

"The Iranian regime now has the largest and most capable unmanned aerial vehicle force in the region," he warned

Previously, three drones targeted a US base in January in the Al-Tanf region, Syria. The US military said that two of the drones were shot down, while another drone hit the base, wounding two members of the Free Syrian Army force.

US officials believe the drone and rocket attacks were directed by militias backed by Iran, a reminder of the geopolitical complexity of Syria where President Bashar al-Assad relies on support from Iran and Russia and sees US troops as occupiers.

The attack comes just weeks after top US general Mark Milley visited northeastern Syria to assess the mission against ISIS and the risks to US personnel.

When asked if he believed deploying some 900 US troops to Syria was worth the risk? General Milley attributed the mission to the security of the United States and its allies, saying: "If you think it's important, then the answer is 'Yes'."

"I think it's important," Milley said.

While IS has lost most of the territory it captured in Syria and Iraq in 2014, its sleeper cells still carry out hit-and-run attacks in remote areas, over which the US-led coalition and the Syrian army have little control.

Thousands of other ISIS fighters have been detained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, America's main ally in the country. Despite this, American officials say that ISIS can still regenerate into a major threat.