US strikes targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for drone attack on base in Jordan
US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq hit more than 85 targets used by Iran-linked militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Friday evening. The American armed forces have stated this, international news agencies report.
The strikes, a retaliation for Sunday's drone strike in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members, targeted targets at seven locations, including command and control headquarters, intelligence centers, missiles, drone and ammunition warehouses and other facilities.
The attacks lasted about thirty minutes. Four of the seven locations were in Syria, three were in Iraq, said Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, chief of the Joint Staff. A number of aircraft were used in the attacks, including long-range B-1 bombers flown from the US.
Washington accuses Iranian-affiliated militias in the region of the drone attack in Jordan and says the drone used was Iranian-made. Tehran denies involvement.
Also read: American retaliation for fatal drone attack on base in Jordan will require tailor-made measures
The White House said more retaliatory attacks would follow. “Our response started today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in Washington that “additional actions will be taken in response in the coming days.” He also said the choice of targets was based on “clear, irrefutable evidence that they are linked to attacks on US personnel in the region.” He would not say exactly what that evidence was.
Syrian state media have criticized the attacks as “American aggression.” The Iraqi military warned that they could cause instability in the region, calling them “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”
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US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden will pay their last respects on Friday to Sergeant William Rivers, one of the US soldiers killed on Sunday in a drone attack on a US base in Jordan, during a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in the state of Delaware . Photo Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images via AFP
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