US retaliates after a drone attack in Syria kills a US contractor

According to the Military, on Thursday, a suspected Iranian drone targeted a facility on a coalition base in northeast Syria, killing one American contractor and injuring five US service men and one other contractor.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement issued late Thursday that U.S. Central Command forces launched "precision airstrikes" in retaliation against facilities in eastern Syria used by organisations linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard. 

The intelligence community has established the unmanned aerial vehicle was of Iranian descent, according to the Defense Department.

"The airstrikes were carried out in response to today's attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria," Austin said. These attacks were carried out by organisations connected to the Revolutionary Guard.

Videos posted on social media overnight claimed to show explosions in Deir Ez-Zor, a vital area of Syria that borders Iraq and has oil deposits.

Syrian army and militia groups supported by Iran are in charge of the region, which has also recently been the focus of alleged Israeli bombings aimed at Iranian supply channels.

The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard of Iran, which reports directly to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, has been accused of conducting drone assaults across the larger Middle East.

As part of its campaign against Kiev, Moscow has recently started employing Iranian drones in its attacks on targets throughout Ukraine. Although Western countries and academics have linked drone components to Tehran, Iran has denied responsibility for these assaults.

As Saudi Arabia and Iran strive to reopen embassies in each other's nations, the attack and the U.S. response pose a threat to recent attempts in the region to deescalate tensions. The monarchy also confirmed plans to reopen its embassy in Syria, whose President Bashar Assad, who is under fire, enjoys Iran's support in the protracted conflict in his nation.

The commander of the US military's Central Command, U.S. Army Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, cautioned that American forces may launch additional strikes if necessary. In a statement, Kurilla stated that "we are prepared for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks."

Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor for the United States, and Qatar's foreign minister spoke on the phone, according to Qatar's state-run news agency. In the midst of recent tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme, Doha has served as a mediator between Iran and the U.S.

The foreign ministers of Qatar and Iran spoke at roughly the same time.

According to Austin, President Joseph Biden directed him to carry out the reprisal attacks.

As a result of tensions with Iran, the U.S. previously attacked Syria under Biden's leadership. Biden attacked there in August 2022, February and June of 2021.

In order to support coalition forces in their struggle against the Islamic State group, American forces entered Syria in 2015. The base where the drone hit on Thursday took place, in northeastern Syria, is still under American maintenance. There are perhaps 900 American soldiers in Syria, including in the north and further south and east, as well as even more contractors.

Austin said: "We will always respond at a time and location of our choice and, as President Biden has made plain, we will take any necessary actions to defend our people. "No faction will attack our soldiers without consequence."

The 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that roiled the Middle East as a whole and overthrew the governments of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen marked the beginning of the Syrian war. Later, it changed into a regional proxy war in which Assad is supported by both Russia and Iran.

According to the United Nations, the war has claimed the lives of over 300,000 civilians. These numbers do not reflect the soldiers and insurgents lost in the war; it is estimated that there were thousands of them.

According to the Pentagon, three more injured service members and the injured contractor were taken to medical facilities in Iraq, while two of the injured service men were treated locally.