On Friday, the US launched massive airstrikes on 85 targets spread over seven areas in Syria and Iraq. This marked the beginning of what is expected to be a series of larger-scale US assaults against militias supported by Iran that have attacked United States forces in the Middle East.
According to the White House, the 30-minute retaliation attacks were effective. They were carried out in reaction to a drone assault on the United States military station in Jordan on Sunday that left three US service personnel dead and over 40 others injured.
Insurgents supported by Iran carried out the strike. The American military response “will continue at times and places of our choosing,” according to a statement from President Joe Biden.
“Conflict is not something the United States seeks in the Middle East or elsewhere. However, let everyone who would try to hurt us know this: We will retaliate if you hurt an American,” said Biden.
Compared to other assaults on Iranian-backed militias over the past several weeks, which mostly targeted training or weapon storage locations, the strikes on Friday were noticeably more serious.
Though the administration is treading carefully, they hope to prevent other assaults and prevent a full-scale war with Iran from erupting in a region already shaken by the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
“Over 85 targets were hit by US military forces, using a variety of aircraft, including long-range bombers that were operated out of the United States. More than 125 precise bombs were used in the raids, according to the statement.
What damages were caused by the attack on Syria?
The US attacks, according to the Syrian military on Saturday, killed troops and civilians in addition to causing “significant damage” to infrastructure.
“Several civilians and soldiers were martyred, others were injured, and significant damage was inflicted to both public and private property as a result of the US’s blatant air aggression against several sites and towns in the eastern region of Syria and near the Syrian-Iraqi border,” the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated in a statement.
The airstrikes, according to Syria’s state-run news agency SANA, struck the nearby communities of Deir Ezzor, Al-Bukamal, and Al-Mayadeen along the Syrian-Iraqi border.
When did the attack start?
The strikes happened shortly after Biden met the families of the troops slain in Jordan and attended a respectful handover.
The missions made use of B-1 bombers, which are long-range heavy bombers with the ability to deliver both precision and non-precise munitions, a defense official told CNN. According to Sims on Friday, “all of that enhanced by our Transportation Command and our ability to gas and go along the way” allowed the bombers to make a “single non-stop flight” out of the United States
‘We don’t seek a war with Iran’
To “ensure that we’re hitting all the right targets,” Sims added, the timing of the attacks was planned around favorable weather. There had been mounting pressure on Biden to act in a way that would permanently halt the militia attacks in the wake of the troops’ deaths.
Since October, more than 160 United States military installations in Iraq and Syria have been attacked by terrorists supported by Iran. Several Republican congressmen have advocated for the US to strike straight into Iran to send a strong message.
CNN was informed by a senior administration official that the United States will not launch an attack within Iran, preferring to concentrate on targets outside the nation.
“We don’t seek a war with Iran. We’re not looking for a wider conflict in the Middle East,” said John F. Kirby who is a retired United States Navy rear admiral serving as Coordinator for Strategictold.
