According to a war monitor, US airstrikes on Syria carried out in retaliation for a drone assault that left one American dead and six others injured resulted in the deaths of 14 pro-Iran fighters.
According to the Pentagon, a kamikaze drone “of Iranian origin” attacked a maintenance facility on a base of the US-led coalition close to Hasakeh in northeastern Syria, killing one US contractor and injuring another, along with five US service members.
In reaction, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on Thursday that he had authorized “precision air strikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” at the request of President Joe Biden.
“The air strikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” Austin said.
Iran-backed forces are widely present throughout Syria, but particularly close to the Iraqi border and in the province of Deir Ezzor, where the most recent US airstrikes were conducted.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based watchdog with a large network of sources on the ground, reported that nine Syrians were among the 14 persons killed by US strikes.
