According to U.S. defence sources, drones and missiles have struck American personnel in Iraq and Syria at least 24 times in the last several days, with at least three of the attacks occurring on Monday.
After American forces attacked two locations in eastern Syria that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its allies used in the early hours of Friday morning, at least five of these strikes were carried out. According to defence authorities, no attacks since the U.S. retaliation strikes on Friday have resulted in casualties or damage.
Due to security concerns, a defence official who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity said that the most recent attack, which took place on Monday, targeted the al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq with multiple rockets.
Additional multiple-rocket assaults were conducted against the Syrian military at Green Village and the Mission Support Site Euphrates.
According to U.S. authorities, a one-way attack drone was utilised against American forces on Sunday at a site close to al-Shaddadi in northeastern Syria, and on Thursday it targeted American and coalition soldiers at al-Asad Air site in Iraq.
Attacks against U.S. soldiers almost every day have been attributed to Iranian-backed proxies, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder and other authorities.
“We know that these are Iranian-backed militia groups that are supported by Iran and, of course, we hold Iran responsible for these groups,” Ryder stated a week ago.
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“The goal of Iran”
Iran’s goal has long been to push the U.S. troops to leave the region, a senior defence official said in response to a question posed by VOA on Monday about whether the latest strikes indicate that American deterrence is failing. We are still there, that’s what I would say.
According to defence officials, early on Friday local time, one American F-15 and two American F-16 fighter planes targeted a weapons storage site and an ammunition factory near Abu Kamal with precision munitions. The Pentagon evaluates the strikes’ effectiveness in hitting their objectives and continues to investigate the amount of casualties.
Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin stated in a statement on October 26 that “these precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria that began on October 17.”
He went on, “The United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests. We will not tolerate such attacks.”
Concerns have been expressed by officials on the possibility of “more significant escalation” from Iranian proxy groups in the region.
The U.N. Security Council was videoconferenced on Monday by Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy for Syria, to inform them that “spillover into Syria is not just a risk; it has already begun.”
U.S. officials are still keeping an eye out for any possible traumatic brain injuries. Since October 17, assaults against U.S. and coalition forces have caused 17 minor injuries to Americans in Syria and 4 minor injuries to American personnel in Iraq.
During a false warning for an air assault, a U.S. contractor at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq experienced a cardiac episode and subsequently passed away.
According to the Pentagon, there were at least 19 attacks on American personnel in Syria and Iraq between October 17 and October 26.
