BEIRUT, March 25 (Reuters) – The death toll in US air raids at pro-Iranian facilities in eastern Syria has grown to 19 fighters, a Syrian war monitor said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest exchanges between Iranian-aligned forces and the United States in years.
The United States carried out strikes in eastern Syria in response to a drone strike on Thursday that left an American contractor dead and another wounded along with five American soldiers. Washington said the attack was of Iranian origin.
Retaliatory strikes by the United States against what it said were facilities in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps left a total of 19 dead, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The war monitor said the airstrikes killed three Syrian soldiers, 11 Syrian fighters in pro-government militias and five non-Syrian fighters who were aligned with the government.
The head of the monitor, Rami Abdel Rahman, could not specify the nationalities of the foreigners. Reuters could not independently confirm the number of victims.
The initial exchange sparked a series of tit-for-tat strikes. Another US service member was wounded, according to officials, and local sources said the US rocket fire is suspected of hitting more locations in eastern Syria.
President Joe Biden warned Iran on Friday that the United States would “act with force” to protect the American people.
Iran has been one of President Bashar al-Assad’s main backers during the 12-year conflict in Syria.
Iran’s proxy militias, including the Lebanese Hezbollah group and pro-Tehran Iraqi groups, have influence in eastern, southern and northern fringes of Syria and in the suburbs around the capital.
Tehran’s growing entrenchment in Syria has prompted regular Israeli airstrikes, but US airstrikes are more rare. The United States has been sounding the alarm about Iran’s drone program.
Reporting by Maya Gebeily Editing by Frances Kerry and Bernadette Baum
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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