US strikes in Syria against Iran-backed militia installations

WASHINGTON – The United States on Thursday launched airstrikes in Syria, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militias. The Pentagon said the strikes were in retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed a civilian contractor and injured a US serviceman and other coalition soldiers.

The airstrike was the first military action taken by the administration of President Joe Biden, who in its first few weeks stressed its intention to focus more on the challenges posed by China, even as threats to the Middle East persist. The Biden administration’s decision to attack in Syria does not appear to indicate an intention to expand US military involvement in the region, but rather to demonstrate a willingness to defend US troops in Iraq.

“I am confident in the target we have aimed for, we know what we have achieved,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters who flew with him from California to Washington. Speaking shortly after the airstrikes, he added: “We are convinced that this target was used by the same Shiite militants who carried out the strikes”, referring to the rocket attack on February 15 in northern Iraq.

Mr Austin said he recommended this military action to President Biden.

Previously, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US action was a “proportionate military response” accompanied by diplomatic measures, including consultation with coalition partners.

“The operation sends a clear message: President Biden will act to protect US and coalition personnel,” Kirby said. “At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner aimed at defusing the general situation in eastern Syria and in Iraq.”

Mr. Kirby claimed that the US airstrikes “destroyed several facilities at a border checkpoint used by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups,” including the Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada organizations. The United States has in the past attributed several attacks on American interests and personnel in Iraq to Kataib Hezbollah.

US forces have been significantly reduced in Iraq to 2,500 and no longer participate in combat missions with Iraqi forces in ongoing operations against Daesh (the Islamic State armed group).

Par Lolita C. Baldor et Robert Burns – The Associated Press

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