The United States will not abandon its mission in Syria despite attacks on US bases by Iranian-backed militias, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on March 28.
US forces have been in Syria for almost eight years.
On March 23, an unmanned aerial vehicle struck a US base in Syria, killing one US contractor, wounding another and wounding five US soldiers.
This triggered retaliatory US airstrikes and shootings that killed three Syrian soldiers, 11 Syrian pro-government fighters and five non-Syrian fighters who were linked to the government, according to the Syrian War Monitoring Group.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was not aware of any additional attacks in the past 36 hours, but warned: “We will remain vigilant”.
Kirby also referred to President Joe Biden’s comments Friday in which Biden warned Iran that the United States would act decisively to protect the American people.
“The American presence in Syria has not changed as a result of what has happened in the last few days,” Kirby said, adding that the mission against Islamic State will continue. — “We are not going to stop because of these attacks.”_.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the US strikes, saying Washington lied about what the target was and promising “end the US occupation” his territory
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the attacks and accused US forces of targeting “civilian targets.”
US troops were first deployed to Syria during the Obama administration’s campaign against Islamic State in partnership with a Kurdish-led group called the Syrian Democratic Forces. There are around 900 US troops in Syria, most of them in the east.
Before the latest series of attacks, US troops in Syria had been attacked by Iranian-backed groups some 78 times since early 2021, according to the US military.
Iran has been a big supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the 12-year conflict in Syria.
Iranian militias, including the Lebanese Hezbollah group and pro-Tehran Iraqi groups, control areas of eastern, southern and northern Syria and the suburbs around the capital Damascus.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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