WASHINGTON: The death toll from retaliatory US air strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria following a deadly drone attack has mounted to 19, a war monitor said on Saturday, as Washington insisted it is not seeking conflict with Tehran.
Further rocket attacks by Iran-linked militias took place late on Friday, prompting more air strikes by coalition warplanes, reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The US carried out the initial strikes after the Pentagon said a US contractor was killed — and another contractor and five military personnel were injured — by a drone “of Iranian origin” that struck a US-led coalition base near Hasakeh region in northeastern Syria on Thursday.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revealed that, at President Joe Biden’s order, he had ordered the “precision air strikes in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
On Saturday, the Britain-based Observatory said 19 people were killed in the first wave of US air strikes: three Syrian regime soldiers and 16 members of Iran-linked forces, including 11 Syrian nationals.
Following the air strikes, Joe Biden sought to lower the temperature saying the United States “does not seek conflict with Iran, but is prepared to act forcefully to protect our people.”
US troops in Syria
Hours after the strikes, ten rockets were fired at American and coalition forces at the Green Village base in northeast Syria, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
CENTCOM added that there were no injuries or damage to facilities at the base, but one rocket hit a home around five kilometers (three miles) away, causing minor injuries to two children and two women.
Iran-linked militias later Friday targeted a base in the Conoco gas field, prompting retaliatory strikes from coalition warplanes on targets in Deir Ezzor city, the Observatory said.
The war monitor said rocket fire targeted coalition facilities at the Al-Omar oil field base and in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, “causing material damage.”
The Observatory said a “cautious calm” returned to the Deir Ezzor area in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Militias affiliated with Iranian Revolutionary Guards have a heavy presence across Syria, particularly around the border with Iraq and south of the Euphrates in the Deir Ezzor regions, where the latest US strikes occurred.
The United States has around 900 troops in posts across northeastern Syria to pressure the remnants of the Islamic State group and support the Syrian Democratic Forces, which control the majority of the northeast region.
The Pentagon said two F-15 fighter jets launched the retaliatory attack — which spokesman Pat Ryder said was to protect US troops.
