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U.S. air strikes on Iranian military bases in Syria

Posted March. 25, 2023 08:01,   

Updated March. 25, 2023 08:01

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Unmanned aerial vehicle forces (drones) believed to be linked to Iran have attacked a coalition base in Syria, killing at least one person and wounding six others, the Pentagon said on Thursday (local time). Tensions in the Middle East are rising, with U.S. forces carrying out retaliatory airstrikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities in Syria in accordance with U.S. President Joe Biden's directive.

“At around 1:38 p.m. local time, a U.S. contractor employee was killed when drones crashed into a maintenance facility at a coalition base in Hasakah in northeast Syria. Six people, including five service members and one contractor, were injured in this attack,” the Pentagon said in a statement on the same day. It added that U.S. intelligence analysis indicated that these drones were manufactured in Iran.

“President Biden gave an order of a precision airstrike,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said. “We will do everything necessary to defend Americans.” The New York Times (NYT) and The Guardian reported that the U.S. military launched F-15 fighter jets to strike command posts, ammunition warehouses, and intelligence bases used by Syria's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has relied on military and economic aid from Iran since the civil war broke out in 2011. This raises concerns that the situation could escalate into a proxy war between the U.S. and Iran.


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