US responds to lethal drone assault with retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria | EUROtoday

DThe US has responded to the lethal assault by pro-Iranian militias in Jordan with a complete counterstrike on targets in Iraq and Syria. The US army stated it fired on greater than 85 targets from the air, together with command facilities, intelligence websites and weapons depots utilized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and militias affiliated with them, US regional command Centcom stated on Friday (native time/Washington ) with. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at the least 18 members of pro-Iranian militias had been killed within the airstrikes in Syria.

US President Joe Biden instantly introduced the prospect of additional army motion within the Middle East. “Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” he stated in a written assertion. “The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world,” he confused. “But for all those who wish to harm us, know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”

Last Sunday, three US troopers had been killed in a drone assault by pro-Iranian militias in Jordan close to the Syrian border. Numerous different troopers had been injured. Biden blamed “radical, Iran-backed militant groups” for the assault and threatened retaliation. On Wednesday, the US authorities formally attributed the assault to a bunch referred to as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which had beforehand claimed duty for the assault.

Concerns about escalation are rising

The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” is a type of umbrella group for pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, which have been working collectively underneath this normal identify because the terrorist acts by the Islamist Hamas on October seventh in Israel. This consists of the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah. It is without doubt one of the strongest militias in Iraq and is asking for the withdrawal of US troops from the nation. Northeast Jordan, the place the lethal assault on US troopers occurred, borders each Syria and Iraq.

The our bodies of the killed US troopers had been returned to the USA on Friday. Biden paid them his final respects at Dover Air Force Base within the state of Delaware – a short while later the counterattack started.

For the US President, the motion in opposition to the militias is a tightrope act. On the one hand, he desires to keep away from his nation being drawn right into a regional battle within the Middle East. On the opposite hand, he desires to indicate energy and produce an finish to the assaults. At the identical time, he’s underneath strain within the USA – some Republicans are calling for extra aggressive countermeasures to the assaults in opposition to the US army. Since the Gaza battle between Israel and Hamas started in October, pro-Iranian militias have carried out virtually day by day assaults on US army bases in Iraq and Syria. The US authorities responded with air strikes in each nations. In addition, the Yemeni Houthis – in solidarity with Hamas – repeatedly assault freighters within the Red Sea. In response, the US and Britain, with the assist of allies, carried out army strikes in opposition to the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen. The US air strikes haven’t but deterred the militias from additional assaults. Concerns about escalation are rising.