US strikes targets in Syria in response to attacks by Iranian-aligned groups

The United States military has launched airstrikes against targets in Syria, responding to recent attacks on US forces by "Iranian-aligned targets," according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).

In a statement released early on November 12, CENTCOM's commander, General Michael Erik Kurilla, emphasized that the military action was aimed at sending a "clear" message to armed groups backed by Iran operating in Syria. “Attacks against US and coalition partners in the region will not be tolerated,” Kurilla stated, condemning the attacks on US military personnel in Syria over the past 24 hours as "reckless", Caliber.Az reports via CENTCOM.

“These strikes will degrade the Iranian-backed groups’ ability to plan and launch future attacks,” CENTCOM added. The strikes targeted nine sites across two locations, but no US personnel were reported injured in the recent wave of attacks by Iranian-backed groups.

The US maintains about 900 personnel in eastern Syria and an additional 2,500 in neighbouring Iraq. Their primary mission is to advise and assist local forces in preventing the resurgence of ISIS, which once controlled large areas of both Syria and Iraq but was later defeated through intense military operations.

While CENTCOM refrained from naming the specific armed groups targeted, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that four Syrian members of Iranian-backed factions were killed and ten others severely wounded when coalition fighter jets struck a headquarters in Al Mayadeen, located in Syria’s Deir Az Zor countryside on November 11.

In a separate development, Syria's state media reported an Israeli airstrike targeting an aid convoy in the Shamsin area, near Syria's border with Lebanon. The strike forced the closure of the country's main north-south highway linking Damascus with Aleppo. While there were no immediate casualty reports, the convoy was known to be a gathering point for refugees fleeing Israeli strikes on Lebanon. On November 10, another Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, killing seven civilians, including women and children. Twenty others were reported injured in the attack, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

Israel has frequently launched airstrikes in Syria, primarily targeting Iranian-supported groups that it claims pose a threat to its security. However, the Israeli government rarely acknowledges these operations.