An Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle receives fuel over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Oct. 13, 2024. American forces conducted retaliatory strikes in Syria on Nov. 12 against Iran-backed militants, CENTCOM said. (Zachary Willis/U.S. Air Force)
For the second time this week, U.S. forces in the Middle East retaliated against Iran-backed militants for attacks on American military personnel and facilities in Syria.
U.S. Central Command forces conducted strikes on Tuesday targeting an unidentified militia group’s weapons storage and logistics headquarters facility, the command said in a statement the same day.
The strikes were in response to a rocket attack against U.S. and coalition forces at Patrol Base Shaddadi in northeastern Syria, CENTCOM said. There were no injuries to U.S. or partner forces, and no American facilities were damaged.
“These strikes will degrade the Iranian-backed groups’ ability to plan and launch future attacks,” CENTCOM said.
A U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria is working to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group. There are about 900 U.S. military personnel operating in Syria, where they support local Kurdish forces.
It was unclear what group was targeted or where the U.S. strikes occurred. CENTCOM also didn’t say when the rocket attack at Shaddadi happened.
Last month, the command said U.S. and coalition forces at Shaddadi had been attacked 22 times since October 2023.
The last confirmed rocket attack there was on Oct. 25, according to an online tracker by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The tracker also listed an unconfirmed attack at Shaddadi on Tuesday.
Militant strikes against U.S. and coalition forces in Syria have escalated since July following a lull of about five months, and the base at Shaddadi has been a frequent target, the tracker shows.
On Monday, the U.S. conducted two strikes against nine targets in two locations associated with Iran-linked groups in Syria, also in response to attacks against American forces and facilities, CENTCOM said in a statement the same day.
Those strikes followed two separate attacks — a drone and indirect firing of two rockets — on Sunday against U.S. forces at Mission Support Site Green Village, also in northeastern Syria, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a Tuesday press briefing.
The strikes were “in response to several attacks on U.S. personnel in Syria over a 24-hour period,” Ryder said.
