After a U.S. contractor was killed and three others were injured by a drone attack at a coalition site in northeast Syria on Thursday night, the US military launched many airstrikes on Iran-aligned militants in eastern Syria.
The drone assault that killed the American contractor and injured five American military personnel and another American contractor was attributed by the US to coalition forces in Syria that are linked to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps). The two members allegedly received treatment right away. The contractor who was injured as well as the other three US personnel were taken to medical facilities in Iraq for treatment.
According to a statement from the Pentagon, the US launched airstrikes on the organisations linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in reprisal for attacks made by these organisations against a US-led coalition base.
The Pentagon reports that on Thursday, strikes were made against a base close to Hasakah in northeastern Syria by organisations with an Iranian leadership. The unmanned aerial vehicle was of Iranian descent, according to the US Defense Department.
US Central Command soldiers carried out "precision airstrikes" on targets in eastern Syria on Thursday, according to Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense. As President Joe Biden has stated, we will take all necessary steps to defend our people and will always respond at a time and location of our choosing, he added in a statement.
There was no reaction from Syria and Iran following the strikes. The event was not addressed by Iran's delegation to the UN.
The US claimed last month that a drone produced in Iran was shot down by the military in northern Syria. The US claims that a UAV made in Iran was attempting to perform surveillance on Mission Support Site Conoco.
The US previously charged Iran with providing drones to Russia during the conflict with Ukraine.