The US military shelled pro-Iranian militia facilities in eastern Syria on Tuesday, a military spokesman said. These “precision strikes” targeted “infrastructure used by the Revolutionary Guards”, linked to the Iranian regime, Colonel Joe Buccino said in a statement.
The US military said it bombed pro-Iranian militia bases in eastern Syria on Tuesday. The strikes took place in the province of Deir Ezzor and targeted “infrastructure used by groups affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards”, said the spokesman of the central command of the American army in the Middle East, the colonel Joe Buccino, in a statement. The Revolutionary Guard Corps, considered the Iranian regime’s ideological army, is on the US blacklist of “terrorist groups”.
“Defend and Protect American Forces”
These “precision strikes” aim, according to Colonel Buccino, to “defend and protect American forces from attacks such as those carried out on August 15 by groups supported by Iran”. Several drones then attacked an advanced base of the anti-jihadist coalition, according to the Americans who had not deplored any casualties. The American aerial bombardment on Tuesday hit nine bunkers used in particular for the storage of ammunition, Colonel Buccino then told CNN.
US forces “carried out this proportionate and deliberate operation to limit the risk of escalation and the risk of causing casualties”, he said. The US bombardment was not immediately confirmed by Syrian state media. Hundreds of American soldiers are deployed in northeastern Syria as part of the anti-jihadist coalition responsible for fighting, with their Kurdish allies from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the remnants of the Islamic State (IS) group.
Tuesday’s bombardment came the same day as Iranian state media announced on Sunday the death of a Revolutionary Guards general killed during a “mission” in Syria. No details were given on the circumstances of the death of the general, just described as a “defender of the sanctuary”, a term used to designate those who work on behalf of Iran in Syria or Iraq. Iran says it deployed forces to Syria at the invitation of the Damascus regime and merely as advisers.