From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 11, 2024
US launches airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria in response to attacks on American forces
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe US military says it has carried out strikes against nine targets associated with Iranian groups in Syria.
In a statement, the US military says the strikes were against two locations in Syria and a response to several attacks on US personnel in Syria in the past 24 hours.
The US has occasionally carried out strikes against targets linked to Iran in both Iraq and Syria. In February, the US launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and militias it backs, in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops.
“These strikes will degrade the Iranian backed groups’ ability to plan and launch future attacks on US and Coalition forces,” the US military says after the most recent strikes.
The US has 900 troops in Syria, and 2,500 more in neighboring Iraq, on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later defeated.
The US has sent warships and fighter aircraft to the region since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught to try to deter Iran and Iran-backed groups.
US forces have also helped shoot down projectiles that Iran launched toward Israel this year.
The Times of Israel Community.