On 28 June 2021, President Biden directed airstrikes against Iran-backed militia groups close to the Syria-Iraq border.[2]F-15E and F-16 aircraft were used to launch the attack in what the U.S. described as a retaliatory attack against U.S. facilities and personnel in Iraq by militia groups.[3][4] Two operational and weapons storage facilities were targeted in Syria, the U.S. military revealed in a statement.[5] Despite the U.S. not disclosing the information regarding the casualties in the attack, the SOHR stated that at least nine Iran-backed Iraqi militia fighters died, leaving many others injured.[6] Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran in a statement named four members of the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction they said were killed in the attack on the Syria-Iraq border.
Reaction
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi condemned the air attack as a "blatant and unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty and Iraqi national security".[7] Meanwhile, Syrian state media (SANA) reported that an air missile attack after midnight on residential houses in the countryside of Abu Kamal, presumably by American warplanes, killed a child and injured three civilians.[8]
Aftermath
Hours later, U.S. forces in Syria came under fire, following the U.S. strikes on the Syria-Iraqi border.[9] Pro-Iranian militias fired rockets at the American base at Al-Omar Oilfield in Syria in response to U.S. airstrikes.[10]
The U.S. coalition responded by firing heavy artillery on Iranian-backed Militias Positions around Al-Mayadin.[11][12] There were no injuries sustained during the attack, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, Col. Wayne Marotto disclosed.[13][14]
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