US strikes killed Syrian soldiers: Defense ministry

03-02-2024
Karwan Faidhi Dri
Karwan Faidhi Dri @KarwanFaidhiDri
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian army on Saturday said a number of its soldiers as well as some civilians were killed during the overnight airstrikes by the United States in the east of the country, state media reported.  

The strikes along Syria’s border with Iraq also left many wounded, the Syrian defence ministry said in a statement published by state-run SANA news agency. The ministry did not state how many were killed or wounded.

The statement said that public and private property was damaged by the airstrikes. 

Washington began a large-scale retaliation campaign on Friday night against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - Quds Force and affiliated militia groups in Iraq and Syria, striking more than 85 targets with over 125 precision munitions, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM). President Joe Biden said further strikes will be coming.

Multiple targets including weapons depots, headquarters, radar points, and warehouses of the IRGC and its affiliated militias in Syria were hit, according to DeirEzzor24. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 militia members were killed.

"We believe that the strikes were successful,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was cited by CNN as saying, adding that they do not know how many militiamen were killed in the overnight strikes. 

Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US chose the locations of the strikes “with an idea that there would likely be casualties” among the IRGC and pro-Tehran militants, reported CNN.

The strikes are in retaliation for the deaths of three American soldiers last Sunday at a base in Jordan.

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required
 

The Latest

-

Kurdish refugees watch in fear as Kobane threatened with new conflict

Kurds who fled the northern Syria town of Kobane when the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked in 2014 are now watching in fear from Turkey as their hometown is threatened with another attack, this time by Syrian militia groups.