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US airstrikes target ‘Iran-backed militia’ facilities in Syria on Biden’s orders - reports US strike in Syria at Biden's orders destroys 'multiple facilities' of 'Iranian-backed militia' - Pentagon
(32 minutes later)
The US has targeted Iran-backed militia in Syria, multiple media reported, citing unnamed officials. The airstrikes were approved by US President Joe Biden and intended as reprisal for rocket attacks on US bases in Iraq. The US has targeted Iran-backed militia in Syria, the Pentagon confirmed, adding that the airstrikes were approved by US President Joe Biden and intended as reprisal for rocket attacks on US bases in Iraq.
The attack on Thursday evening was described as a “strike against a site in Syria linked to Iranian-backed militias” by the Reuters correspondent at the Pentagon, citing an anonymous US official. “At President Biden’s direction US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian backed militant groups in eastern Syria,” the Pentagon’s spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. The attack took place around 6 pm Eastern time on Thursday. 
The strike “comes after a series of recent rocket attacks against US targets in Iraq,” Reuters added.  Kirby echoed earlier media reports that the bombing of the Syrian territory was in retaliation to “recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq.” He further argued that the raids were aimed at defusing the tensions in the Middle East.
A CBS correspondent said the strike “was carried out in response to recent rocket attacks on locations in Iraq” where US troops and contractors were located. Kirby claimed that the strikes inflicted serious damage on the infrastructure of “a number of Iranian backed militant groups including Kait’ib Hezbollah and Kait’ib Sayyid al Shuhad,” noting that “multiple facilities” were destroyed.
There has been no official statement from the Biden administration about the attack as so far. Unconfirmed reports from Syria spoke of explosions near Al-Bukamal, a town in the Deir-ez-Zor province near the border with Iraq. Unconfirmed reports from Syria spoke of explosions near Al-Bukamal, a town in the Deir-ez-Zor province near the border with Iraq.
The reported airstrikes come after a series of rocket attacks on the Green Zone in Baghdad, the Balad Air Base and the Erbil International Airport in Iraq over the past two weeks. No group has claimed responsibility and the Pentagon has not officially blamed anyone.The reported airstrikes come after a series of rocket attacks on the Green Zone in Baghdad, the Balad Air Base and the Erbil International Airport in Iraq over the past two weeks. No group has claimed responsibility and the Pentagon has not officially blamed anyone.
This is not the first time the US has blamed Iran for attacks on American troops and contractors in neighboring Iraq. After one contractor died, the Trump administration targeted the Kataib Hezbollah militia and other Shia Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which culminated in the drone assasination of General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran, in January 2020. This is not the first time the US has blamed Iran for attacks on American troops and contractors in neighboring Iraq. After one contractor died, the Trump administration targeted the Kataib Hezbollah militia and other Shia Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which culminated in the drone assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran, in January 2020.
Biden himself led the chorus of Democrats who denounced President Donald Trump’s move at the time, saying he “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) had said the Soleimani strike risked “provoking further dangerous escalation of violence” and was undertaken without congressional authorization.Biden himself led the chorus of Democrats who denounced President Donald Trump’s move at the time, saying he “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) had said the Soleimani strike risked “provoking further dangerous escalation of violence” and was undertaken without congressional authorization.
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