Pentagon confident that 'target was hit' as US strikes Iranian-backed militias in Syria

The United States military on Thursday struck a site in Syria used by two Iranian-backed militia groups in response to the rocket attacks on American forces in the same region in the past two weeks, the Department of Defence said on Friday. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and other coalition troops. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that the action was taken in the direction of the United States President Joe Biden and strikes were “authorised in response” to the recent attacks against American & Coalition personnel in Iraq. The US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, even said that the “target was hit”.

“At US President Joe Biden’s direction, US military forces earlier (local time) this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria,” said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.

“These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American & Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel,” he added.

Read - Rupee Tanks 67 Paise To 73.10 Against US Dollar In Early Trade

Read - India-Pakistan Ceasefire Pact Is 'positive Step Towards Greater Peace & Stability': US

First known military action directed by Biden

Following the leadership of Donald Trump, which witnessed several whopping strikes in the middle east, the recent strike in Syria was also the first such known action of US President Joe Biden. However, it swiftly drew criticism from a Democratic lawmaker. The site which was US’ target on Friday was reportedly not specifically tied to the rocket attack against Americans. Austin said in a statement that he was “confident” it was used by the same Iranian-backed militias that had fired rockets at the United States and coalition forces. 

"There's not much more that I'll be able to add at this point other than the fact that we're confident in the target we went after, we know what we hit," the secretary of defence said. "We're confident that the target was being used by the same Shia militia that conducted the strikes."

"We are very deliberative in our approach as you would expect us to be," Austin continued. "We allowed and encouraged the Iraqis to investigate and develop intelligence for us, and that was very helpful to us in refining the target."

Read - US Surgeon General Nominee Vivek Murthy Says His First And Foremost Priority Is To Turn Coronavirus Pandemic Around

Read - US Treasury Secretary Calls For Global Immunisation, Asks G20 To Help Poor Nations