Here we go again :(
US launches retaliatory strikes on Iranian-linked militia targets in Iraq and Syria
The US has begun conducting strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria, the start of what will likely be a series of larger-scale US strikes on Iranian-backed militias who have carried out attacks on US troops in the Middle East, according to two US officials. The retaliatory strikes came in response to a drone strike by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan on Sunday, which killed three US service members and wounded more than 40 others.
The strikes come just hours after US President Joe Biden attended a dignified transfer ceremony and met family members of the three soldiers killed in Jordan.
Officials have signaled the strikes were likely to be more significant than previous attacks on Iranian-backed militias over the last several weeks, which have primarily focused on weapons storage or training facilities. But the administration is threading a needle; they want to deter and stop further attacks but avoid a full-scale conflict with Iran breaking out in a region already roiled by the continuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The Biden administration has signaled there could be additional action in the coming days. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday the US response would be “multi-tiered.”
Syrian state media is accusing “US aggression” for the attacks, which they said targeted Syria’s desert areas and those around the Syrian-Iraq border, resulting in a number of casualties.
