Iran-backed fighters fired three missiles at a US military base in northeast Syria today after President Biden launched a series of retaliatory air strikes in response to a deadly Iranian suicide drone attack that killed an American contractor.
The Iran-backed groups targeted the US base at the Al-Omar oil field in Syria's northeast with a missile attack at around 11am on Friday morning.
Two missiles fell in the oil field, without causing damage, while the third landed on a civilian house nearby, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It was unclear whether the strikes had caused any casualties.
The militants launched the strikes just hours after President Biden ordered the U.S. Central Command forces to launch 'precision airstrikes' against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, killing 11 pro-Iran fighters.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday's retaliatory airstrikes against the IRGC, a wing of the Iranian military which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by the US, were carried out by F-15 fighter jets. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said today the strikes were aimed at protecting American personnel in Syria.
#BREAKING: US launches air strikes against Iranian IRGC and affiliates targets in Syria in retaliation for an earlier Iranian affiliated drone strike that killed one US contractor and injured five soldiers.
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 24, 2023
Initially everyone thought the attack was Israel.
US service members… pic.twitter.com/zD8kkREKpG