The US has carried out an airstrike on a weapons warehouse in eastern Syria used by Iranian-backed militias.
It comes in retaliation for what has been a growing number of attacks on bases housing US troops in the region for the past several weeks, the Pentagon said.
In Wednesday’s strike, two US F-15 fighter jets dropped multiple bombs on a weapons storage facility near Maysulun in Deir el-Zour that was known to be used by Iran’s revolutionary guard, US officials said.
“The President (Joe Biden) has no higher priority than the safety of US personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” defence secretary Lloyd Austin said.
A military official told reporters in a call that people were seen at the warehouse during the day as the US military watched the site for hours, but the number decreased to about “a couple” overnight when the strike occurred.
The official said the strike triggered secondary explosions, indicating the presences of weapons, but the US believes that no civilians were killed and any people at the warehouse were tied to the revolutionary guard or militia groups.
A senior defence official also on the call said the strike was aimed at “disrupting and degrading the capabilities of groups directly responsible for attacking US forces in the region” by specifically targeting facilities associated with the revolutionary guard.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide an assessment of the strike.
The defence official said the strike was deliberate and designed not to escalate the conflict in the region.
The military official said a deconfliction phone line linking US military personnel to Russian forces in Syria was used to let them know about the attack.
This is the second time in less than two weeks that the US has bombed facilities used by the militant groups, many operating under the umbrella of the Islamic resistance in Iraq, which US officials say have carried out at least 40 such attacks since October 17.
That was the day a powerful explosion rocked a Gaza hospital, killing hundreds and triggering protests in a number of Muslim nations. The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel on October 7.
Israel denied responsibility for the al-Ahli hospital blast, and the US has said their intelligence assessment found that Tel Aviv was not to blame.
But the Israeli military has continued a ferocious assault on Hamas, with ground troops now deep inside Gaza City in a war that has a staggering death toll of more than 10,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory.
The latest US strike was designed to take out supplies, weapons and ammunition in an effort to erode the abilities of the Iranian-backed militants to attack Americans based in Iraq and Syria.
