After a US military contractor was killed and six others wounded when a “one-way” drone determined to be of Iranian origin attacked a coalition facility in northeast Syria, the US conducted a counterstrike on a Syrian group affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the Pentagon said in an announcement.
“At the direction of President Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. “The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC.”
Five of the wounded were US service members; the sixth was a contractor. Two of the wounded service members and the contractors had to be evacuated to facility in Iraq for treatment.