US launches ‘Retaliatory AirStrikes’ in the Middle East. Targeted 85 sites in Iraq and Syria. At least 18 People Died
by Gospa News Editorial Staff
US forces have reportedly commenced airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed militants in Syria and Iraq in response to a series of assaults on American military bases in the region, including a drone attack that killed three American soldiers and wounded more than 40 others.
Washington’s latest strikes come nearly a week after Sunday’s deadly attack on a secretive US base in Jordan, near the Syrian and Iraqi borders, called Tower 22. The retaliatory bombings mark “the start of what will likely be a series of larger-scale US strikes on Iranian-backed militias who have carried out attacks on US troops in the Middle East,” CNN reported on Friday, citing two unidentified American officials.
CENTCOM Statement on U.S. Strikes in Iraq and Syria At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02,
At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States. The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.
At least 18 people died in airstrikes
Aircraft have attacked several targets in the eastern Syria province of Deir ez-Zor, Al Arabiya reported.
According to the television channel, the strikes were carried out near Al Mayadin. The TV channel points out that the attack had, presumably, been carried out by US planes. Al Hadath television reported, more than 10 sites of pro-Iran militias have been targeted in US Air Force strikes in eastern Syria. Heavy bombardments hit 11 sites near the border with Iraq.
Middle East Escalation toward WW3! Biden challenges Iran with US Strikes on Syrian IRGC Bases
Airstrikes presumably by US aircraft in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate targeted positions of pro-Iranian armed groups, the Al-Hadath television channel reported. According to the TV channel, strikes were delivered on several facilities where pro-Iranian units are deployed.
At least six people died in airstrikes delivered presumably by US aircraft on facilities in the Deir ez-Zor governorate in eastern Syria, the Al Hadath television channel reported.
The death toll then has grow to 18 syrian troops killed
According to Al Hadath, warplanes conducted three series of strikes on positions of pro-Iranian units.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had promised a “multitier response”
The ABC television channel has reported, citing a US administration official, that the United States has begun to deliver strikes on Syria.
The Biden administration had made clear that the U.S. would take military action after the drone attack by Iran-backed militants at a remote U.S. base in Jordan, in which more than 40 others were wounded.
Before the strikes, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had promised a “multitier response” and officials told NBC News that Biden settled on a plan expected to unfold over multiple days, possibly weeks. American forces are expected to hit targets in different countries outside Iran, U.S. officials said.
Even as Biden and his deputies vowed to retaliate, they have added the caveat that Washington does not seek a war with Iran or a wider conflict in the region. Their calibrated statements appeared to indicate that it was unlikely the reprisal strikes would hit targets inside Iran itself.
Raeisi: Iran’s response to any potential attack would be ‘decisive and strong’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says Tehran will not start a war but will give a decisive and strong response to any adventurism seeking to bully the Islamic Republic.
“We have said many times that we will not be the initiator of any war, but if a country or a cruel force wants to bully the Islamic Republic of Iran, it will respond firmly,” Raeisi said in an address to a large crowd of people in the city of Minab in the southern province of Hormozgan on Friday, according to Iranian PRESS TV.
IRGC Missiles hit anti-Iran terrorists’ and Mossad Espionage Base (video). Houthis Struck US Ship
He said Iran’s military power does not pose any threat to the countries in West Asia but it is a source of security that the regional states can rely on.
Raeisi said the enemies used to resort to the language of threat against Iran and even said a military option was on the table, but now they announce that they do not seek any confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
