The US army on Thursday evening conducted airstrikes in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq targeting Iranian-backed militias in retaliation for a February 15 rocket strike in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that the strikes were directed by President Joe Biden in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, which killed one civilian and left several locals and Americans injured.
The US airstrike targeted structures in the eastern Syrian town of Al Bukamal that belong to two Iranian-backed militias that have launched rocket attacks in the past against American facilities in Iraq.
"At President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria," John Kirby, Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement issued Thursday night, according to NPR.
"These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel," Kirby added. "Specifically, the strikes destroyed multiple facilities located at a border control point used by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, including Kait'ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kait'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS)."
Forensic evidence recovered by local officials and coalition experts after the Erbil attack pointed to a connection to Iranian-backed militias that have conducted similar attacks in the past.
Earlier on Thursday, the Kurdish Government announced that it had identified suspects in the attacks and had provided that information to the Iraqi government and the US military in Baghdad.
