US Strikes Iranian-Backed Groups in Syria After Attacks on US Forces

The US military carried out airstrikes against Iranian-backed targets in Syria on Monday, in response to recent attacks on US forces in the country, Al Jazeera reports.

General Michael Erik Kurilla, Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), confirmed the strikes in a statement, saying they sent a “clear” message to Iranian-supported armed groups operating in Syria.

The strikes, which occurred over a 24-hour period, resulted in the deaths of four Syrian members of Iranian-backed groups, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Ten other individuals were severely injured in the attack, which targeted a “headquarters” in the Al Mayadeen area of eastern Syria’s Deir Az Zor countryside.

While the US military did not specify which groups were targeted, or confirm any casualties, it stressed that no US personnel were injured in the attacks they were responding to. The US maintains a presence of approximately 900 soldiers in eastern Syria, alongside 2,500 more in neighboring Iraq, tasked with advising and assisting local forces in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Meanwhile, Syrian state media reported that Israeli air forces had attacked an aid convoy in the Shamsin area near the Lebanese border on Monday. The attack forced the closure of Syria’s main north-south highway, connecting Damascus to Aleppo. While there were no immediate reports of casualties, the area is known to be a gathering point for refugees fleeing Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years, targeting what it claims are Iranian-supported armed groups that threaten its security. On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, killing seven civilians, including women and children, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). Twenty others were wounded in the attack. Israel has not commented on either incident.