US and Israeli forces carried out separate airstrikes in Syria targeting Iranian-backed fighters within hours of each other killing at least 12 of the militants.
US Central Command confirmed on X – formerly Twitter – that US forces carried out a strike as a response to numerous attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias.
CENTCOM wrote: “US Central Command forces conducted an air strike against a facility in Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups.
“We will take all necessary measures to defend our people against those who are responsible for the attacks and will respond at a time and place of our choosing.”
Two US F-15s dropped bombs on a weapons depot linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard near Maysulun in Deir el-Zour, US officials said.
Elsewhere in Syria, state media reported that Israel carried out airstrikes near the border to Baalbek, Lebanon “causing some material losses”.
Israeli airstrikes near the capital of Damascus killed at least three pro-Iran foreign fighters in the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor.
Head of the SOHR Rami Abdel Rahman said: “Three non-Syrian, pro-Iran fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on farms and other sites belonging to Hezbollah near Akraba and Sayyida Zeinab.”
The SOHR also said that at least nine people were killed in the US strikes in eastern Syria on Wednesday.
The news comes amid fears of an escalation in the war between Israel and Hamas. Since Israel declared war against the terrorist group on October 7, Iran-backed groups across the region have joined the fray at various levels.
The Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah has traded fire with Israel on a daily basis since the war began, although it has stopped short of launching a full-blown attack on Israel.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have joined the conflict on the side of Hamas while Iran-backed militia groups in Israel and Syria have launched dozens of attacks on US forces in the region since the start of the conflict.
Together these groups form the so-called “axis of resistance” – an anti-Israel, anti-US group that stands with Hamas.
