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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin PA

US air strikes kill 14 in Syria in retaliation for drone strike

A drone attack had killed one American contractor and wounded five US service personnel in Syria.

LAST UPDATE | 24 Mar 2023

FOURTEEN PRO-IRAN fighters were killed in US air strikes on Syria carried out in retaliation for a drone attack that killed an American and wounded six others, a war monitor has said.

A US contractor was killed, and another contractor and five US service personnel wounded, when a kamikaze drone “of Iranian origin” struck a maintenance facility on a base of the US-led coalition near Hasakeh in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon said.

In response, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that, at President Joe Biden’s direction, he had ordered “precision air strikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”.

“The air strikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” Austin said.

Iran-backed militias have a heavy presence across Syria, especially around the border with Iraq and south and west of the Euphrates in Deir Ezzor province, where the latest US strikes took place.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor with a wide network of sources on the ground, said 14 people had been killed by US strikes, including nine Syrians.

“US strikes targeted a weapons depot inside Deir Ezzor city, killing six pro-Iran fighters, and two other fighters were killed by strikes targeting the desert of Al-Mayadeen, and six others near Albu Kamal,” said the Observatory’s head Rami Abdel Rahman.

This morning, Iran-backed groups stationed near the city of Al-Mayadeen fired three missiles near a US base, Abdel Rahman said.

Two missiles struck in Syria’s largest oil field, Al-Omar, which houses the US base, without causing damage, while the third hit a civilian house nearby, he added.

Major John Moore, a spokesperson for the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), confirmed the attack to AFP.

“We can confirm there was a rocket attack on Green Village in Syria,” he said, adding: “There were no casualties.”

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a US ally that controls most of the northeast, said the strikes wounded two civilians.

US troops support the SDF, the Kurds’ de facto army in the area, which led the battle that dislodged IS from their last scraps of Syrian territory in 2019.

‘Always respond’

The United States deploys about 900 troops in bases and posts across northeastern Syria as part of the international coalition fighting remnants of the Islamic State group (IS).

The US personnel have frequently been targeted in attacks by militia groups.

Two of the US service members wounded on Thursday were treated on site, while the three other troops and one US contractor were medically evacuated to Iraq, the Pentagon said.

“We will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” said CENTCOM chief General Michael Kurilla.

When the strikes were announced, Biden had already travelled to Canada, where he is set to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In January, the US military said “three one-way attack drones” were launched against the coalition garrison at Al-Tanf in Syria, with one breaching its air defences and wounding two allied Syrian fighters.

The Observatory said it was likely Iran-backed militants had carried out that attack.

Last August, Biden ordered similar retaliatory strikes in Deir Ezzor province after several drones targeted a coalition outpost, without causing any casualties.

That attack came the same day that Iranian state media announced a Revolutionary Guard general had been killed days earlier while “on a mission in Syria as a military adviser”.

Iran, a key ally of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, says it has deployed its forces in Syria at the invitation of Damascus and only as advisers.

© AFP 2023

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    Mute james kelly
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    Mar 24th 2023, 8:49 AM

    Why is there contractors there? Still taking Syrian oil?

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2023, 8:58 AM

    @james kelly: supporting the Kurds

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 9:41 AM

    @Paul Furey: It is always interesting when a complex issue is commented on that there is always someone with a one-line explanation. No matter what the US is doing in Syria, it is an invading, occupying force. Its presence there is illegal.

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    Mute SquideyeMagpie
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    Mar 24th 2023, 10:23 AM

    @Declan McKenna: Can one invade a dictatorship?

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    Mute George Vladisavljevic
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    Mar 24th 2023, 10:25 AM

    @SquideyeMagpie: Yes

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    Mute Joe x
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    Mar 24th 2023, 10:49 AM

    @Declan McKenna: just like the Russian occupation of areas of Ukraine…an invading force

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 10:55 AM

    @SquideyeMagpie: Are you asking if a country invaded Saudi Arabia or many of the other gulf states that would constitute an invasion? If that is the question, then I believe that would constitute an invasion.

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 10:58 AM

    @Joe x: Yes, Russia is an invading force. Do you accept that the US is an invading and occupying force in Syria? And, that Israel is an invading and occupying force in Syria?

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    Mute Joe x
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    Mar 24th 2023, 11:14 AM

    @Declan McKenna: you already know my answer to
    is that Declan, however my comment is to make a point about the amount of whataboutery you guys use and going off topic. Annoying, isn’t it.

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 11:27 AM

    @Joe x: No, I do not know what your answer is. But, there you go again: whataboutery. Whataboutery is your language to shut down any possible rational and contextual opinions being expressed – it is abusive and restricting and intended to be both.

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    Mute Joe x
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    Mar 24th 2023, 11:43 AM

    @Declan McKenna: really? We see you and others pop up on the ukainian/russian war articles so often playing the whatabout card that you must have seen my view on the US presence in the middle east. Ye constantly go on about the US in the middle east uou distract from the topic of the article in question. This is actually my first time commenting on a US in the middle east article because once I saw your comment I decided to sink to your level, play a what about card myself and do exactly what you do in a ukrainian war article by taking it off topic

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    Mute Joe x
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    Mar 24th 2023, 11:49 AM

    @Declan McKenna: as I said, annoying, isnt it!

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 12:01 PM

    @Joe x: You still decline to answer the question I asked you. There is no point insisting that I know your position when I told you very clearly that I don’t. If I have been unclear in any contribution I have made then just ask for a clarification – do not accuse me of engaging in distraction just because you do not accept the validity of my contributions.

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    Mute Joe x
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    Mar 24th 2023, 12:09 PM

    @Declan McKenna: I did answer your question and I know you know my position because I replied to one of your whatabout comments on a ukrainian war article last weekend

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    Mute Allora
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    Mar 24th 2023, 12:16 PM

    @Declan McKenna: the US is supporting the Kurds in Syria. A very just & credible act after trump abandoned tbem to their faith by both Syria and Turkey. I suggest you look up the Kurd nationalists online to see how worthy a cause they are. A formation of a kurdish state in the middle East has long been called for and could see a major resolution to middle Eastern conflicts. The Kurds have a far longer history of oppression than even the Palestinians.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Mar 24th 2023, 12:26 PM

    @Declan McKenna: “Its presence there is illegal.”

    No it’s not. Prime minster Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani approved the presence of 2500 US troops in Iraq. This from Jan 2023:

    “Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani has previously endorsed allowing the roughly 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq to stay. Mr. Austin stressed that they were there primarily to train and advise Iraqi troops, not to join them on combat missions to root out remaining Islamic State fighters.”

    “Mr. Sudani has surprised American officials with his willingness to back the U.S. military presence and to accept Iraqis from refugee camps in Syria that have been holding thousands of family members of former Islamic State fighters. Last month, Iraq repatriated more than 500 residents of al Hol refugee camp, easing the threat that Islamic State will recruit new members from the overcrowded camp, U.S. military officials say.”

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-defense-chief-visits-iraq-for-talks-on-troop-presence-c4420cdc

    I am aware that 2 days after General Soleimani was assassinated on 3 Jan 2020 in a drone strike ordered by Trump, there was a vote on 5 Jan 2020 by the Iraq parliament, where Shi’a parties voted to expel US troops (all Sunni parties boycotted parliament). That vote was symbolic, it was not endorsed by the Iraqi government and had no legal force.

    Futhemrore, there was the 2021 general elections and after a year of fighting and negotiations, on 22 Oct 2022 a new government took power led by prime minster Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani. As explained, Al Sudani approved the presence of 2500 US troops in Iraq.

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 5:21 PM

    @David Jordan: Yes, you are correct. My information was out of date.

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    Mute Thomas Sheridan
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    Mar 24th 2023, 6:12 PM

    @Declan McKenna: any comments on the Russia, Iran or Turkey invading Syria, or is it OK for them.

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    Mute Thomas Sheridan
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    Mar 24th 2023, 6:20 PM

    @Declan McKenna: it’s more that the commentators on the USA and Israel deliberately turn a blind eye to the worse actions of Russia and other Middle Eastern dictorships, paramilitary groups or simple terrorists

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 6:57 PM

    @Thomas Sheridan: while it is true that Turkey has invaded and occupied parts of Syria any involvement of Iran and Russia is at the invitation of the Syrian government.

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    Mute ForrestG45
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    Mar 24th 2023, 7:30 PM

    @Declan McKenna: ‘at the invitation of the Syrian government’. Is that the government which is actually a dictatorship regime responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of their own people? After being caught as spreading misinformation by David, you should probably go back to bed.

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    Mute Declan McKenna
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    Mar 24th 2023, 8:32 PM

    @ForrestG45: No, it is the internationally recognised government of Syria.
    Strangely, discussion can lead to learning new information – you should try it some time. The first requirement is to understand that not all error is misinformation and not all misinformation is error. It takes a little working out to spot the difference.

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    Mute Ciarán O' Donoghue
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    Mar 24th 2023, 11:10 AM

    Another proxy war that the States are involved in.

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    Mute Gareth McMahon
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    Mar 24th 2023, 5:57 PM

    Ah the good old USofA bringing ‘democracy’ through bombing.

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    Mute Jim O'Sullivan
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    Mar 24th 2023, 11:26 AM

    Where’s the ICI? Using drones to kill people is reprehensible and not the actions of a true democratic state.

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    Mute Rian Lynch
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    Mar 24th 2023, 1:05 PM

    @Jim O’Sullivan: iran isnt a democracy

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    Mute SPQH
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    Mar 24th 2023, 1:06 PM

    @Jim O’Sullivan: ironic isn’t it?

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    Mute Sean Minihane
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    Mar 24th 2023, 7:47 PM

    @Jim O’Sullivan: why? These are terrorists, what’s wrong with killing them with drones? Is it better to kill them with bullets?

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    Mute honey badger
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    Mar 24th 2023, 8:39 AM

    US forces have been attacked about 70 odd times in recent months. They’ve only replied in kind 4 times.
    If you want a laugh read up on the battle of Khasham. Ultimate FAFO.

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    Mute Pádraig Ó hAirtnéada
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    Mar 24th 2023, 8:57 AM

    @honey badger: That’s what happens when you invade other countries…

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    Mute honey badger
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    Mar 24th 2023, 6:31 PM

    @Gareth McMahon: Nope, in this instance they were returning the compliment to a few headbangers who are the antihesis of democracy. Try again. The SDF and Kurds appreciate the muscle though.

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    Mute Gareth McMahon
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    Mar 24th 2023, 8:14 PM

    @honey badger: These the same Kurds who were told to rise up an then abandoned after Gulf War 1? The Kurds have been messed around with 100+ years by the ‘great powers’ . As a fool you wouldn’t know this.

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    Mute Alastar O'Leader
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    Mar 24th 2023, 11:54 PM

    WAR CRIM8NALS! Where is the ICC???

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    Mute Rian Lynch
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    Mar 25th 2023, 5:19 AM

    @Alastar O’Leader: Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, 2597 AK Den Haag, Netherlands
    there you go bud

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