U.S. mounts 'defensive' airstrikes against Iranian training, weapons sites in Syria

Nov. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. fighter jets hit two Iranian military bases in southeastern Syria in "defensive" airstrikes ordered by President Joe Biden in response to surging attacks against American troops in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon said.

The precision airstrikes on Sunday targeted a training facility near Abu Kamal and a safe house near Mayadin on the Euphrates River, both of which were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran-affiliated groups, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a news release.

"The president has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today's action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests," Austin said.

ABC News quoted an unnamed U.S. military official as saying one of the sites was being used to store weapons.

Sunday's raids follow an airstrike involving two F-15s on Wednesday against another IRGC weapons storage facility in the Maysalun region of the country behind drone and rocket strikes targeting American troops, part of a significant uptick in attacks on bases housing U.S. personnel in Syria and Iraq by IRGC-Quds Forces since Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks against Israel.

The action brings to three the number of retaliatory strikes the United States has mounted in the past two weeks against IRGC affiliates after a pair of F-16s hit a weapons storage facility and an ammunition dump in eastern Syria on Oct. 26.

"The United States is fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. We urge against any escalation. U.S. personnel will continue to conduct counter-ISIS missions in Iraq and Syria," Austin said after Wednesday's airstrike.

In the past month, 56 U.S. personnel have been injured -- mostly concussions and minor wounds -- and in almost 50 attacks on bases housing U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria which also indirectly caused the death of a U.S. contractor. All the injured have since returned to duty.

U.S. military chiefs have ordered the deployment of some 900 additional troops to the region in response to rising tensions, in addition to two aircraft carrier strike groups deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean in the days following the Oct. 7 attacks.