Retaliation for US attacks?
Militias report new air strikes on US military in Syria
October 30, 2023, 8:01 a.m
The US army is attacking the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria in response to a series of attacks on US forces. But militias supported by the regime in Tehran are apparently not letting this stop them from continuing the attacks.
After the US Army attacked Iranian Revolutionary Guard facilities in Syria, Iranian-backed militias have claimed responsibility for two new attacks on US forces in Syria. The so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq – an umbrella organization of Iran-backed Iraqi militias – claims to have used two drones to attack US military forces in Hasakah province in northeastern Syria. According to one local media report Militia in the province are also said to have carried out a rocket attack on US forces. This is what the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports in its current report Analysis of the Israel War. According to this, the US military has been attacked in the Middle East 28 times since October 18th.
The American armed forces have neither confirmed nor denied the renewed drone attack, the experts write. According to the media report, the rocket attack was in retaliation for the US army’s attacks on two Iranian Revolutionary Guard facilities in Syria on Thursday. The US Department of Defense justified this with the numerous attacks on US forces in the Middle East, which began in Iraq and are now continuing in Syria. According to ISW analysts, this is intended to dissuade the USA from supporting Israel in its defensive war against Hamas.
Iran has escalated its threats since Hamas’ major attack on Israel on October 7, both against Israel and the United States. Israel’s supporters should be aware that “some hands that are unable to reach this regime can reach American forces that are directing this war,” the Iranian News Agency quoted an Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman as saying on Saturday. All US military bases and their flights would be closely monitored. According to the Iranian president, Israel has crossed red lines. “The crimes of the Zionist entity, humanitarian and military, have crossed the red lines that could force everyone to act,” said Prime Minister Ebrahim Raisi in an interview with the Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera over the weekend.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has stated that “if attacks by Iranian proxies against US forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.” About 900 US troops are stationed in Syria as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of the so-called Islamic State (IS).