Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
An American contractor was killed and five U.S. service members were injured in a drone strike on a facility in northeast Syria on Thursday, the Pentagon said in a statement.
U.S. intelligence officials assessed that the unmanned aerial vehicle which hit the base near Hasakah was “of Iranian origin.” In response, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct their own “precision airstrikes” Thursday night targeting facilities in Syria used by groups with links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
“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,” Austin said. “As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. No group will strike our troops with impunity.”