WASHINGTON – U. S. airstrikes targeted bases in Syria used by Iranian militant teams suspected of attacking U. S. and allied forces in northern Iraq last week, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
The attacks, the first through President Joe Biden, hit several targets used by militias that the Pentagon blames for rocket attacks on a base in northern Iraq that killed a contractor and wounded U. S. troops and allies.
“The operation sends an unequivocal message that President Biden will act before U. S. and coalition staff,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. “At the same time, we have intentionally acted to defuse the overall scenario in eastern Syria and Iraq. “
Biden’s resolve to strike in Syria does not appear to imply an objective of expanding the U. S. military’s involvement in the region, but it must still demonstrate its willingness to protect U. S. troops in Iraq.
“I’m sure of myself in the purpose we’ve pursued, we know what we’ve accomplished,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was flying with him from California to Washington, according to the Associated Press.
Speaking shortly after the airstrikes, he added, “We are convinced that this target was used by the same Shiite militants who carried out the attacks,” referring to a rocket attack on February 15 in northern Iraq that killed a civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and other coalition personnel.
Austin said he’d perform with Biden.
“We’ve said many times that we’ll respond on our schedule,” Austin said. “We sought to be confident in connectivity and looked to make sure we had the right goals. “
Earlier, Kirby said the US action is a “proportionate military response” taken in conjunction with diplomatic measures, adding consultations with coalition partners.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio also moved them “proportionate and necessary. “
Iran-backed militias have introduced three attacks on americans in the past two weeks. The movements ordered through @potus opposed to these militias tonight were specific, proportionate and necessary.
Biden management officials condemned the February 15 rocket attack near the town of Irbil in Iraq’s Kurdish-led semi-autonomous region, however, as recently as this week, officials said they had not made a certain decision about who carried it out. Officials noted that in the past, Iran-backed Shiite militias have been guilty of rocket attacks that have targeted a corps of American workers or facilities in Iraq.
Kirby said Tuesday that Iraq was tasked with investigating the February 15 attack.
“At the moment, we are not in a position to give them any attribution as to who those attacks were, what groups, and I will not move on to the tactical main points of each and every weapon used here,” Kirby said. “Let the investigations run out and run out, and when we have more to say, we will. “
A little-known Shia militant organization calling himself Saraya Awliya al-Dam, in Arabic for the Blood Guardian Brigade, claimed his duty for the February 15 attack. A week later, a rocket attack in the green zone of Baghdad gave the impression of targeting the U. S. Embassy. compound, but no one was injured.
They’re going to go this week that he had no connection to the Blood Guardian Brigade.
The frequency of attacks by Shiite defense forces teams opposing US targets in Iraq declined last year before Biden’s inauguration, now Iran is urging the US to return to the deal. Tehran nuclear power station from 2015. The United States, under the Trump administration, has accused Iran-backed teams of wearing down the strikes. The tension breakout came after a Washington-led drone attack killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and tough Iraqi defense force leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis last year.
Trump had said the death of an American businessman would be a red line and galvanize a U. S. escalation in Iraq. The December 2019 assassination of a U. S. civilian contractor, a rocket attack on Kirkuk, sparked a fierce war on Iraqi soil that brought the country to the breaking point of a war of powers.
U. S. forces in Iraq have been particularly reduced to 2,500 soldiers and no longer participate in combat missions with Iraqi forces in ongoing operations opposed to the Islamic State group.
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Contributor: Associated Press