The US military shelled the facilities of pro-Iranian militias in eastern Syria on Tuesday, a military spokesman announced.
These “precision strikes” were carried out in Deir Ezzor province and targeted “infrastructure used by the Revolutionary Guards” linked to the Iranian regime, Colonel Joe Buccino said in a statement.
The Revolutionary Guard Corps, considered the ideological army of the Iranian regime, is on the US blacklist of “terrorist groups.”
As Buccino explained, these “precision strikes” are intended to “defend and protect US forces from attacks like the ones that took place on August 15 by groups supported by Iran.”
Several drones then attacked a forward base of the anti-jihadist coalition, according to the Americans, who reported no casualties.
Tuesday’s US aerial bombardment hit nine bunkers used for ammunition storage, Colonel Bucino told CNN.
US forces “carried out this proportional and deliberate operation to limit the risk of escalation and the risk of causing casualties,” it added.
Hundreds of US troops are deployed in northeastern Syria as part of the anti-jihadist coalition to fight, with their Kurdish allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the remaining elements of the Islamic State (IS) group.
This attack came on the same day that Iranian state media announced the death, on Sunday, of a Revolutionary Guards general during a “mission” in Syria.
No details were given about the circumstances of the general’s death, only described as a “defender of sanctuary”, a term used to designate those who work on behalf of Iran in Syria or Iraq.
Iran says it sent forces to Syria at the invitation of the Damascus regime and only as advisers.
Source: Observadora
