U.S. Air Strikes in Syria Target Iranian-Backed Militia - Pentagon - Reuters

2021. 04. 21. U.S.
air strikes in Syria target Iranian-backed militia - Pentagon | Reuters
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FEBRUARY 26, 2021 / 12:32 AM / UPDATED 2 MONTHS AGO
U.S. air strikes in Syria target Iranian-backed militia - Pentagon
By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States carried out air strikes authorised by President Joe
Biden against facilities belonging to Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria on Thursday, in response to
rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, the Pentagon said.
FILE PHOTO: The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos
Barria/File Photo
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-syria-strike-exclusive/u-s-air-strikes-in-syria-target-iranian-backed-militia-pentagon-idUSKBN2AP33D 1/10
2021. 04. 21. U.S. air strikes in Syria target Iranian-backed militia - Pentagon | Reuters
The strikes appeared limited in scope, potentially lowering the risk of escalation. It was not
immediately clear what damage was caused.
Syria did not immediately comment, but state-owned Ekhbariya TV said the strikes were conducted at
dawn against several targets near the Syrian-Iraqi border.
An Iraqi militia official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least one fighter had been killed
and four others were wounded.
A medical source at a hospital in the area and several local sources told Reuters 17 people had been
killed. That toll could not be independently confirmed.
Biden’s decision to strike only in Syria and not in Iraq, at least for now, gives Iraq’s government some
breathing room as it investigates a Feb. 15 attack that wounded Americans.
“At President (Joe) Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted air strikes
against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria,” Pentagon
spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
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“President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel. At the same time, we have
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acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and
Iraq.”
He said the strikes destroyed multiple facilities at a border control point used by Iranian-backed
militant groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
After the strikes, the Iranian and Syrian foreign ministers spoke and underlined “the need of the West
to adhere to U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding Syria,” Iranian government website Dolat.ir
said.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision to carry out the strikes was
meant as a signal that Washington wanted to punish the militias but did not want the situation to
spiral into a bigger conflict.
The official said Biden was presented with a range of options and one of the more limited responses
was chosen.
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Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee, said
the strikes “remind Iran, its proxies, and our adversaries around the world that attacks on U.S.
interests will not be tolerated.”
Suzanne Maloney, of the Brookings Institution think tank, declared the strikes a “Good move” on
Twitter, saying they showed the Biden administration could both negotiate with Iran on the nuclear
deal and push back against the militias Tehran backed.
The rocket attacks on U.S. positions in Iraq were carried out as Washington and Tehran seek a way to
return to the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
It was not clear how, or whether, the strike might affect U.S. efforts to coax Iran back into a
negotiation about both sides resuming compliance with the agreement.
In the Feb. 15 attack, rockets hit the U.S. military base housed at Erbil International Airport in the
Kurdish-run region, killing one non-American contractor and wounding a number of American
contractors and a U.S. service member.
Another salvo struck a base hosting U.S. forces north of Baghdad days later, hurting at least one
contractor.
Rockets on Monday hit Baghdad’s Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic
missions.
The Kata’ib Hezbollah group, one of the main Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups, denied any role in the
rocket attacks.
Some Western and Iraqi officials say the attacks, often claimed by little-known groups, are being
carried out by militants with links to Kata’ib Hezbollah as a way for Iranian allies to harass U.S. forces
without being held accountable.
Since late 2019, the United States has carried out high-profile strikes against Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq
and Syria in response to sometimes deadly rocket attacks against U.S.-led forces.
During Trump’s presidency, tensions culminated in the U.S. killing of Iranian military leader Qassem
Soleimani and a retaliatory Iranian ballistic missile attack against U.S. forces in Iraq last year.
Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Grant McCool, Peter Cooney and Timothy Heritage
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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2021. 04. 21. U.S.

air strikes in Syria target Iranian-backed militia - Pentagon | Reuters

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MIDDLE EAST & AFRIC A

U.S. air strikes in Syria target Iranian-backed militia - Pentagon

By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart

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STRIKES “REMIND” IRAN

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Moscow strongly condemns U.S. air strikes in Syria, ministry says

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Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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