Photo: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty
SYRIA, June 29, 2021 ~ Monday, U.S. forces in Syria were attacked by rockets, just one day following precision airstrikes ordered by President Joe Biden on “facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. precision airstrikes intended to deter attacks against U.S. armed forces.
“We took necessary appropriate deliberate action that is designed to limit the risk of escalation, but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message,” said Blinken on Monday.
According to the Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve Colonel Wayne Marotto, there were no casualties or injuries. Marotto later tweeted that U.S. forces responded in self-defense with artillery fire.
U.S. forces have the inherent right to self-defense and responded with counter-battery fire at rocket launching positions and one Hellfire from a UAV which resulted in one enemy wounded in action.
— OIR Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto (@OIRSpox) June 29, 2021
“Iraq renews its refusal to be an arena for settling accounts,” said a spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi armed forces.
Prior to the attacks, Iran-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah announced a planned retaliation.
\”This crime will not go unpunished, the decision for revenge has been taken, and the American enemy will see death with his own eyes,” said Kataib Hezbollah on its Telegram page. “An eye for an eye and what is coming is severe.\”
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