(Damascus) Syria and Iraq denounced on Saturday retaliatory strikes carried out by the United States against elite Iranian forces and pro-Iranian armed groups on their territories, which left at least 45 dead, including civilians.
The United States has promised more strikes in response to the attack attributed by Washington to pro-Iran groups on January 28 against an American base in Jordan, near the Syrian and Iraqi borders, in which three American soldiers were killed .
“Our response began today. It will continue according to the schedule and in the places that we decide,” President Joe Biden warned on Friday.
In a statement, the al-Noujaba movement, a member of a nebula of fighters from pro-Iranian groups which calls itself “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, warned that it would respond “at the appropriate time” to American strikes.
Sworn enemy of the United States, Iran denounced “a violation of the sovereignty of Syria and Iraq”, while the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, at war against Israel, considered that they were “posing ‘oil to the fire’.
At least 29 pro-Iranian fighters, including nine Syrians, six Iraqis and six Lebanese from Hezbollah, were killed in these strikes in Deir Ezzor and Al-Mayadine in war-torn eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. man (OSDH).
Dozens of families have fled their homes in these two towns for fear of further strikes, the NGO added.
In Iraq, 16 people including civilians were killed, the government announced. The toll could, however, be heavier, with Hachd al-Chaabi, a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups integrated into the Iraqi forces, deploring “16 martyrs” in its ranks.
” Threat ”
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Security forces inspect a damaged car at the site of a U.S. airstrike in al-Qaim, Iraq, February 3.
In Baghdad, the authorities denounced “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty” and decided to summon the American charge d’affaires to give him an “official letter of protest”.
They considered that the presence on their soil of an international anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington had “become a threat to the security” of the country.
In Damascus, the Syrian army, which reported an undetermined number of “civilian and military deaths” in the strikes, judged that “the occupation of certain parts of Syrian territory by American forces can no longer continue” .
Some 900 American soldiers are deployed in Syria and 2,500 in neighboring Iraq as part of the international coalition created to fight the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) which was defeated after being driven out of the regions it occupied in these two countries.
The coalition remained to fight against jihadist cells which continue to carry out attacks.
According to the pro-government Syrian newspaper al-Watan, a historic site, the Al-Rahba Fortress in Al-Mayadine, was damaged by the strikes.
The American military intervention on Friday evening lasted around thirty minutes and was “a success”, according to the White House, which assured that it did not want a “war” with Iran.
85 targets
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Shell casings at the site of a US airstrike in al-Qaim, Iraq, on February 3
A total of 85 targets at seven different sites (four in Syria and three in Iraq) were targeted, said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. American forces targeted the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, and pro-Iranian armed groups, he said.
Since mid-October, shortly after the start of the Gaza war on October 7 between Hamas and close US ally Israel, more than 165 drone strikes and rocket attacks have targeted US forces in Iraq and Syria. Syria, but no American service members had been killed until the January 28 attack.
Most of the attacks were claimed by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”.
An ally of the powers in Syria and Iran and the bête noire of Israel, Lebanese Hezbollah affirmed that American strikes “contribute to fueling escalation in the region”.
Same story in Moscow, which accused the United States of “sowing chaos” in the Middle East and called for an “urgent” meeting of the UN Security Council.
On Saturday, the United States announced that it had destroyed eight drones off the coast of Yemen the day before and four on the ground in order to “protect freedom of navigation” from attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels against maritime traffic. The Houthis say they are acting “in solidarity” with the Palestinians in Gaza.
“The United States does not want conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let those who want to harm us know this well: if you touch an American, we will respond,” warned Joe Biden after witnessing the return to the United States of the bodies of the three American soldiers killed.