The US carried out significant airstrikes on 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria on Friday. This marks the beginning of a series of larger-scale US strikes on Iranian-backed militias that have been attacking US troops in the Middle East.
The strikes, in response to a drone strike by Iran-backed militants which killed three US service members and wounded over 40 others, were successful and lasted 30 minutes, according to the White House. President Joe Biden stated that the US military response “will continue at times and places of our choosing.”
The airstrikes targeted facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. The US military struck more than 85 targets using numerous aircraft, including long-range bombers flown from the United States. The facilities targeted included command and control operations, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against US and Coalition forces.
The White House believes that the umbrella group of militants called Islamic Resistance in Iraq was behind the drone attack in Jordan. “We believe that the attack in Jordan was planned, resourced and facilitated by an umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which contains multiple groups including Kata’ib Hezbollah,” Kirby said.
The strikes come in the midst of negotiations over a framework for a hostage release deal and potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. An official said this week that a broad framework of a deal was agreed to by negotiators, but the “details are going to be very difficult” to work out.
