The Pentagon introduced that two unmanned aerial automobiles (UAVs) had been shot as they tried to focus on a U.S. base in Syria Monday, because the nation blamed Iran for latest drone assaults.
Armed factions near Iran have threatened to assault U.S. pursuits over Washington’s help for Israel for the reason that Hamas group killed greater than 1,400 individuals in a shock cross-border assault from Gaza on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated by conducting inhumane assaults on civilian infrastructure, together with hospitals, colleges, bakeries, refugee camps and marketplaces.
Israel’s retaliatory bombardment of Gaza has killed greater than 5,000 individuals, in keeping with the Gaza well being ministry.
“There was an attempted drone attack at Al-Tanf in Syria. Two one-way attack drones taken down; no injuries to US forces,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder advised journalists.
The drones had been downed utilizing “defensive systems,” he mentioned, with out offering additional particulars.
An American protection official had beforehand mentioned on situation of anonymity that an assault in Syria had focused forces from the United States and the worldwide coalition towards the Daesh terrorist group.
Neither Ryder nor the official supplied particulars on the group that carried out the assault, however a gaggle calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq mentioned earlier within the day that it had launched drones towards American forces at Al-Tanf and Al-Malikiyah in Syria.
The similar group additionally claimed to have focused U.S. troops in Iraq on Saturday – an assault the United States mentioned it couldn’t affirm – whereas American forces shot down two drones within the nation final week.
The United States has some 900 troops in Syria and a couple of,500 in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Washington accused Iran of “actively facilitating” a sequence of latest assaults on its U.S. bases within the Middle East and vowed to guard its pursuits.
Speaking at a press briefing on the White House, National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby mentioned there was an “uptick” in rocket and drone assaults over the course of the final week, towards navy bases housing U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. He blamed Iranian-backed proxy teams.
“We are deeply concerned about the potential for any significant escalation of these attacks,” mentioned Kirby.
“Iran continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah, and we know that Iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases, actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict for their own good or for that of Iran,” he added.
“We know Iran’s goal is to maintain some level of deniability here, but we’re not going to allow them to do that,” mentioned the spokesperson.
He recalled that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the U.S. navy to take steps to make sure that the Pentagon is “postured appropriately, both in terms of being able to defend our forces and respond decisively as needed.”
Kirby additionally cautioned that the U.S. navy’s capabilities are getting greater and higher daily.
Earlier, an assault involving two drones focused the al-Tanf garrison, a base in southeastern Syria. Since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza battle on Oct. 7, U.S. forces have confronted repeated missile and drone assaults, blamed on Iran-backed teams.
Last Wednesday, U.S. forces stationed on the at-Tanf garrison got here beneath assault from two drones.
Separately, in Iraq, two drones focused the al-Asad Airbase on Tuesday.
Source: www.dailysabah.com