The U.S. military on Friday afternoon began striking targets in Iraq and Syria associated with Iran-backed militants responsible for the deaths of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan earlier this week, according to senior Biden administration officials.
The strikes targeted three facilities in Iraq and four in Syria, and were selected to avoid civilian casualties, according to White House spokesman John Kirby.
“This wasn’t just a message-sending routine tonight. This was about degrading capability, taking away in a more robust way than we have in the past, taking away capabilities by the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps],” Kirby said.
He added that targets were “carefully chosen facilities that we knew were involved in used by the IRGC and these militant groups in attacks against US personnel. They were all carefully selected for that purpose. As I said, this is just a first set of responses.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that it was the “start of our response.”
The statement said:
Following the attack on U.S. and Coalition Forces in northeastern Jordan this past Sunday that killed three U.S. service members, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces today conducted strikes on seven facilities, which included more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militias use to attack U.S. forces. This is the start of our response. The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing. We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces. We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our forces, and our interests.
The strikes were conducted by manned and unmanned aircraft and hit 85 total targets, including command and control headquarters, ammunition storage, and other facilities.
The Biden administration had issued warnings that they would strike back for days, making it unclear whether leaders of the Iran-backed groups were able to take defensive measures.
-Breitbart
