BEIRUT (AP) — Recently, the U.S. military has conducted strikes on multiple sites in western Iraq and eastern Syria which were manned by Iran-backed fighters. This retaliation was in response to a drone strike in Jordan at the end of January, which resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members and injuries to many others. Tensions had been escalating since the commencement of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7th, followed by drone and rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed fighters, who are loosely allied with Hamas. The situation worsened as a deadly strike on the desert outpost known as Tower 22 in Jordan near the Syrian border occurred. The U.S. retaliation on Friday was anticipated following the Jan. 28 attack in Jordan.
WHY IS THE AREA THAT WAS STRUCK IMPORTANT?
The 85 targets struck in seven locations are situated in a critical region where thousands of Iran-backed fighters are deployed. These forces are aiding in expanding Iran’s influence from Tehran to the Mediterranean coast. U.S. bases in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour and the northeastern province of Hassakeh have been under attack for years. The Euphrates River divides Syria and Iraq, with U.S. troops and American-backed Kurdish-led fighters positioned on the east bank, opposing Iran-backed fighters and Syrian government forces to the west. Bases for U.S. troops in Iraq have also been targeted. On the Iraqi side of the border, Iran-backed militias have control and operate in and out of Syria, where they hold posts with their allies from Lebanon’s influential Hezbollah and other Shiite armed groups.
WHICH TARGETS WERE HIT AND HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE KILLED?
The U.S. military announced that its extensive barrage of strikes hit various locations including command and control headquarters, intelligence centers, rockets and missiles, drone and ammunition storage sites, and other facilities associated with the militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, which manages Tehran’s relationship with regional militias. Syrian opposition activists reported that the strikes hit the Imam Ali base near the border Syrian town of Boukamal, the Ein Ali base in Quriya, just south of the strategic town of Mayadeen, and a radar center on a mountain near the provincial capital that is also called Deir el-Zour. According to Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 29 rank-and-file fighters were killed in these strikes. Additionally, Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, stated that the attacks also targeted a border crossing known as Humaydiya and an area inside the town of Mayadeen known as “the security quarter.” The strikes in western Iraq, according to Iraqi government spokesperson Bassim al-Awadi, killed 16 people and caused “significant damage” to homes and private properties. The Popular Mobilization Force, a coalition of Iran-backed militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, reported that the strikes in western Iraq hit a logistical support post, a tanks battalion, an artillery post, and a hospital, resulting in 16 deaths and 36 wounded people.
HOW WILL IRAN-BACKED FIGHTERS RETALIATE?
Iran and its regional allies aim to exert pressure on Washington to compel Israel to cease its offensive in Gaza, however, they do not appear to seek all-out war. The defeat of Hamas would be a significant setback for Tehran, which considers itself and its allies as the main defenders of the Palestinian cause. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group for Iran-backed factions, stated that it carried out two explosive drone attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil and a post in northeast Syria near the Iraqi border. Notably, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been the only Iran-backed faction escalating the situation, targeting commercial ships and U.S. warships in the Red Sea with drones and ballistic missiles. The U.S. has conducted strikes against the Houthis in Yemen over the past two weeks, and there have been no new attacks by the Houthis since the U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria.
