US strikes in Iraq, Syria kill about 40

FE Team | Published: February 03, 2024 23:28:02

BAGHDAD, Feb 03 (Reuters): The United States launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, reportedly killing about 40 people, in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops.
The strikes, which included the use of long-range B-1 bombers flown from the United States, were the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden's administration to the attack last weekend by Iran-backed militants.
More US military operations were expected in the coming days. The strikes intensified a conflict that has spread into the region since war erupted between Israel and Hamas after the militant Palestinian group's deadly assault on Israel on Oct 7.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement the US attacks represented "another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region".
Iraq also condemned the US attacks, saying they had killed 16 people including civilians. In Syria, the strikes killed 23 people who had been guarding the targeted locations, said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organisation that reports on war in Syria.
US Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, said the attacks appeared to be successful, triggering large secondary explosions as the bombs hit militant weaponry. He said the strikes were undertaken knowing that there would likely be casualties among those in the facilities.
Despite the strikes, the Pentagon has said it does not want war with Iran and does not believe Tehran wants war either, even as Republican pressure has increased on the Biden to deal a blow directly.
Iran, a backer of Hamas, has sought to stay out of the regional conflict itself even as it supports groups that have entered the fray from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria - the so-called "Axis of Resistance" that is hostile to Israeli and US interests.
The strikes hit targets including command and control centres, rockets, missiles and drone storage facilities, as well as logistics and munition supply chain facilities, the US military said in a statement.
In Iraq, local residents said several strikes hit the Sikak Neighborhood in Al-Qaim, a residential area that locals said was also used by armed groups to store large amounts of weapons. Militants had left the area and gone into hiding in the days since the Jordan attack, local sources said.
US troops have been attacked over 160 times in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since Oct. 7, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones, prompting the United States to mount several retaliatory attacks even before the latest strikes.
The United States has assessed that the drone that killed the three soldiers and wounded more than 40 other people in Jordan was made by Iran, US officials have told Reuters.
(Earlier report on Page 14)