Pentagon announces airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria

Jeremy Beaman
·1 min read

The U.S. military performed airstrikes against Iran-backed militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border, the Pentagon announced Sunday.

"At President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.

"The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq. Specifically, the U.S. strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries," he added.

The targeted facilities were used by militia groups Kata'ib Hezbollah, or KH, and Kata'ib Sayyid al Shuhada, also known as KSS, Kirby said.

"Given the ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq, the president directed further military action to disrupt and deter such attacks. We are in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq for the sole purpose of assisting the Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to defeat ISIS," Kirby continued. "The United States took necessary, appropriate, and deliberate action designed to limit the risk of escalation - but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message."

The U.S.'s airstrikes were initiated "pursuant to its right of self-defense," Kirby said.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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Tags: News, Military, Iran, Syria, Foreign Policy, Biden Administration, Middle East

Original Author: Jeremy Beaman

Original Location: Pentagon announces airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria

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