US carries out air strikes in Syria in response to deadly drone attack
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Alaina
- . March 24, 2023
- . Update: March 24, 2023 9:28 pm
The United States (US) military carried out multiple air strikes against Iran-aligned groups in eastern Syria on Thursday night after a U.S. contractor was killed and several members were injured because of a drone strike at a coalition base in northeast Syria.
The US blamed the coalition forces in Syria affiliated with the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) for carrying out a drone attack that killed the U.S. contractor and injured five U.S. service members and one other U.S. contractor. The two members were reportedly treated on-site. The three other US members and the injured contractor were transported to medical facilities in Iraq in order to get treatment.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the US carried out air strikes against the groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in retaliation to attacks carried out against a US-led coalition base by these groups.
According to the Pentagon, the Iranian-led groups carried out attacks against a base near Hasakah in northeast Syria on Thursday. The US Defense Department said that the unmanned aerial vehicle was of Iranian origin.
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Lloyd Austin, United States Secretary of Defense, said that U.S. Central Command forces conducted the “precision airstrikes” against facilities in eastern Syria on Thursday. He said in a statement, “As President Joe Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing.”
There was no reaction from Syria and Iran over the strikes. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not comment on the incident.
Last month, the US said that the military shot down an Iranian-made drone in northeastern Syria. According to the US, an Iranian-manufactured UAV was aiming to conduct reconnaissance on Mission Support Site Conoco.
Earlier, the US accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia in its war against Ukraine.
