Above photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP.
US carries out major bombing in Iraq, Syria.
The airstrikes came in response to the killing of three US soldiers last week in Jordan and hit targets of the Axis of Resistance that were largely evacuated in advance.
The US air force carried out strikes on 85 sites in the border regions connecting Iraq and Syria early on 3 February.
US Central Command stated its forces struck targets “belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its allies, in Iraq and Syria” using “long-range bombers launched from the United States.”
The statement added that US forces “used more than 125 precision-guided munitions in the air strikes. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, intelligence centers, missiles and missiles, drone warehouses, logistical facilities, and the ammunition supply chain.”
The strikes came in response to an attack on Tower 22, a US base on the Jordan-Syria border on 28 January. The attack killed three US soldiers and injured dozens. Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi armed group that is part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and enjoys support from Iran, claimed responsibility. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq seeks to expel US forces from the country and stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
According to sources speaking with Al-Mayadeen, most of the sites targeted by US warplanes Saturday had been completely evacuated before the attacks were launched.
The assault targeted sites near the cities of Deir Ezzor, Al-Mayadeen, and Al-Bukamal and nearby towns in eastern Syria on the Euphrates River.
The US bombing targeted sites in the town of Al-Hari and the Al-Sikka and Al-Hajjana crossing in Al-Bukamal city, near the Syrian border with Iraq.
Targets in the Al-Hamdaniya neighborhood, the grain silos, and the vicinity of the Ain Ali shrine in the city of Al-Mayadeen were also hit, according to Al-Mayadeen’s sources.
From the Iraqi side, Al-Mayadeen confirmed that the US bombing also targeted sites in the cities of Al-Qaim and Akashat near the Syrian border opposite Al-Bukamal, killing two.
The strikes targeted sites affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which receive support from Iran but are formally part of Iraq’s armed forces and also have connections to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
An Iraqi security official told NBC News the US also targeted a weapons warehouse and three houses belonging to Kataib Hezbollah in Anbar province in western Iraq.
The spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces confirmed the strikes in the Iraqi border areas, describing them as a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and an undermining of the efforts of the Iraqi government to maintain stability in the country.
US President Joe announced the strikes “started today and will continue at the times and places that we determine,” while claiming “America does not seek a conflict in the Middle East, or anywhere else in the world.”
The White House National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, confirmed the Iraqi government was informed before the attacks were launched.
President Biden drew criticism from the top Republican member of the Armed Services Committee in the US Senate, Roger Wicker, who said that the White House “spent nearly a week foolishly sending signals about the intentions of the United States to our adversaries, giving them time to move and hide.”
Iraq Denies Washington Notified Goverment Prior To Deadly Overnight Attack.
The bombing campaign by US warplanes killed at least 16 people in Iraq, including civilians, prompting Baghdad to summon the US envoy to deliver a formal protest.
Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi on 3 February denied US claims that Washington notified Baghdad before an overnight bombing campaign that killed at least 16 people and injured 25 more.
“The US side deliberately falsified the facts by announcing prior coordination to commit this aggression, which is a false claim aimed at misleading international public opinion and disavowing legal responsibility for this crime by all international laws,” Awadi told reporters on Saturday, adding that the latest US aggression on Iraqi soil “will put security in Iraq and the region on the brink of the abyss.”
On Friday night, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed the US informed the Iraqi government about the strikes before they were launched. Baghdad says US warplanes hit the positions of Iraqi security forces in Akashat and Al-Qaim, as well as neighboring civilian places.
A statement from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office stressed that the presence of the US-led coalition in the region “has become a reason for threatening security and stability in Iraq and a justification for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts.”
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs also summoned the US charge d’affaires in Baghdad to deliver a formal protest.
According to the Pentagon, 85 sites in the border regions connecting Iraq and Syria were targeted during the air raids.
Damascus strongly condemned the attack on its territory, revealing that the US warplanes hit eastern regions where the Syrian army has been fighting remnants of ISIS, accusing Washington of “working to revive its activity.”
In a statement, the Syrian foreign ministry “categorically rejected all the pretexts and lies promoted by the US administration to justify this attack,” noting that “the United States proves, once again, that it is the main source of global instability, and that its forces threaten international peace and security.”
Syrian state media reported several casualties after the attacks in the country’s desert region and border areas with Iraq.
According to sources speaking with Al-Mayadeen, most of the sites targeted by US warplanes on Saturday had been completely evacuated before the attacks were launched.
US President Joe on Friday announced retaliatory attacks against “Iran-backed militias” responsible for the deaths of three US service members “started today and will continue at the times and places that we determine,” while claiming “America does not seek a conflict in the Middle East, or anywhere else in the world.”