A U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one other U.S. contractor were wounded when a suspected Iranian drone struck a facility on a coalition base in northeast Syria on Thursday, the Pentagon said, CBS News reports.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said U.S. Central Command forces retaliated with "precision airstrikes" against facilities in eastern Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
The Defense Department said the intelligence community had determined the unmanned aerial vehicle used in the attack was of Iranian origin. Two of the wounded U.S. service members were treated on site, while three others and the injured contractor were transported to medical facilities in Iraq, the Pentagon said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the American strikes killed six Iranian-backed fighters at an arms depot in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. The Observatory, which relies on a network of local contacts in Syria, said the U.S. also bombed an outpost near the town of Mayadeen, killing another two fighters.
There were unconfirmed reports Friday morning that a new missile strike had targeted a U.S. base in the region, near the Al-Omar oil field in northeast Syria. Local media, including a pro-Iran outlet based in Lebanon, reported the strike. Photos and reports on social media suggested at least one missile had missed the intended target and hit homes in the region instead. There was no immediate confirmation from U.S. officials about a new strike targeting American forces or their allies.
A separate American strike hit a military post near the town of Boukamal, along the border with Iraq, on Thursday the Observatory said. CBS News hasn't been able to confirm the report.
"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 Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Austin said, adding that he authorized the retaliatory strikes at the direction of President Biden.
"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," Austin said. "No group will strike our troops with impunity."
