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An American contractor was killed and five US soldiers and another US contractor were wounded when a suspected Iranian-linked drone struck a military base in northern Syria late Thursday, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The Pentagon said it had launched air strikes against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“The U.S. is not — I am not reminding you — I am seeking conflict with Iran, but we are prepared to act strongly to defend our people,” President Joe Biden said Friday, addressing the attack during a visit to Canada. “This is exactly what happened yesterday.”
There was no immediate reaction from the Iranian government. Iran’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war-monitoring group, said US airstrikes killed eight pro-Iranian fighters in Syria.
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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that two wounded US service members were being treated at the base. Three additional service members and an American contractor have been deployed to a medical facility in nearby Iraq.
Austin said the airstrikes were launched in response to Thursday’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks that have targeted coalition forces in Syria.
Biden extended his “heartfelt condolences” to the family of the deceased American and wished the wounded a speedy recovery. “I’m also grateful for the professionalism of our service members who performed so well in this response,” Biden said.
There are approximately 900 US troops and an unknown number of American military personnel in Syria, a presence that will try to apply pressure on the remnants of the Islamic State militant group and limit Iran’s influence in Syria. It’s not the first time Biden has struck out against pro-Iranian fighters in Syria.
The first military action Biden took as president in late February 2021 was to order strikes against Iranian militias in Syria in response to attacks on the US and the gathering of military personnel in Iraq. Iranian proxy groups have been planning to launch attacks in Syria and Iraq for several years in the United States, but it was put on hold after an American drone strike in January 2020 killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian leader, while visiting Baghdad senior Iraqi security officials.
The US Congress is considering bills from 1991 and 2002 that authorized the use of force against the Iraqi government during the Iraq War, the 20th anniversary of which was marked Monday. This bill is known as a military force authorization, or AUMF. Some lawmakers also want to repeal or renew a separate 2001 AUMF that was created by President George W. Bush’s “global war on terror” and the invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11. That authority was extended in 2001 to allow the US to target militant groups in Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines and beyond.
