Biden orders US air strikes on Iran-backed militia in Syria

The US military bombed infrastructure used by militia groups backed by Iran in eastern Syria, in response to rocket attacks against US targets in Iraq

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he recommended the strikes, while the Pentagon said Biden acted to protect American and coalition personnel

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President Joe Biden authorised US military air strikes against facilities in eastern Syria, in response to recent attacks against US personnel in Iraq. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:38am, 26 Feb 2021Updated: 5:42pm, 26 Feb 2021

US President Joe Biden on Thursday directed military air strikes in eastern Syria against facilities belonging to what the Pentagon said were Iran-backed militia, in a calibrated response to rocket attacks against United States targets in Iraq.

The strikes appeared to be limited in scope, potentially lowering the risk of escalation.

Biden’s decision to strike only in Syria and not in Iraq, at least for now, also gives the Iraqi government some breathing room as it carries out its own investigation of a February 15 attack that wounded Americans.

“At President Biden’s direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted air strikes against infrastructure utilised by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

“President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel. At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq.”

Kirby added that the strikes destroyed multiple facilities at a border control point used by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS).

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the decision to carry out these strikes was meant to send a signal that while the United States wanted to punish the militias, it did not want the situation to spiral into a bigger conflict.