The US military has launched precision airstrikes against Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) affiliates. The order was given by Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin on behalf of President Joe Biden, said on the US Department of Defense website.
According to the Pentagon, the strike was a response to a drone attack on a coalition forces base in northeast Syria on the afternoon of March 23. The department said one US soldier was killed and five others injured.
“Two injured soldiers were treated at the scene, and three other soldiers and a US contractor were evacuated to coalition medical facilities in Iraq,” the Department of Defense said in a statement.
According to intelligence information, the drone that attacked the base was of Iranian origin.
“As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary steps to protect our people and will always respond anytime, anywhere we choose,” Austin explained.
The Pentagon chief also stressed that no group would strike US troops with impunity.
The American armed forces are in Syria under the aegis of the fight against the militants of terrorist groups, in particular the EI*, and support the Kurdish YPG in this. Damascus did not authorize the operation on the territory of the country to Washington.
March 16, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared that the country’s leaders have evidence of US training of terrorists at the At-Tanf military base. “What does the United States gain from being in this area in the heart of the desert? There is no doubt that they have camps for terrorists, in which there are tens of thousands with their families,” the Syrian leader said.
In July 2022, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, during the Syrian conflict resolution summit, also stressed that the United States should withdraw its troops from Syria and the entire region as soon as possible. According to him, the fate of the country should be decided by its people, without foreign interference. “The illegal presence of US occupation forces will destabilize Syria the powerful presence of the Syrian army will help preserve the integrity of the country,” the Iranian leader said.
- a terrorist organization banned in Russia
