US strikes Syria: Why has America bombed sites in Syria? What has the Pentagon said - is it linked to Israel-Hamas war

The US military launched airstrikes early on Friday (27 October) on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s revolutionary guard corps, the Pentagon said. It comes after drones and missile attacks hit US bases and personnel in the region early last week.

Officials at the Pentagon and the White House have made it clear for the past week that the US would respond. On Thursday (26 October) Air Force brigadier general Pat Ryder said that US retaliation would be “at the time and place of our choosing”.

According to the Pentagon, there have been at least 12 attacks on US bases and personnel in Iraq and four in Syria since 17 October. Ryder said 21 US personnel were injured in two of those assaults that used drones to target al-Asad airbase in Iraq and al-Tanf garrison in Syria.

In a statement, defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the “precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17”. He said President Joe Biden directed the narrowly tailored strikes “to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests”, adding that the operation was separate and distinct from Israel’s war against Hamas.

Mr Austin said the US does not seek a broader conflict, but if Iranian proxy groups continue, the US will not hesitate to take additional action to protect its forces. According to the Pentagon, all the US personnel hurt in the militant attacks received minor injuries and all returned to duty.

The US wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the US as strongly as possible to deter future aggression, possibly fuelled by Israel’s war against Hamas, while also working to avoid inflaming the region and provoking a wider conflict. Ryder told reporters during a Pentagon briefing on Thursday: “I think we’ve been crystal clear that we maintain the inherent right of defending our troops and we will take all necessary measures to protect our forces and our interests overseas”.

The US, including the Pentagon, has repeatedly said any strike response by America would be directly tied to the attacks on the troops, and not connected to the war between Israel and Hamas. Such retaliation and strikes against Iranian targets in Syria after similar attacks on US bases are routine. In March, for example, the US struck sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s revolutionary guard after an Iranian-linked attack killed a US contractor and wounded seven other Americans in northeast Syria.