Biden Orders Air Strikes in Syria after Drone Attack Injures Soldiers in Illegal U.S. Base

The Pentagon conducted airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday in response to an alleged Iranian drone attack that killed a U.S. contractor and injured five service members.

"At the direction of President Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)," said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. "The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC."

U.S.’ response came after a “one-way unmanned aerial vehicle” struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time.

Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while three additional service members and the U.S. contractor were medically evacuated to Coalition medical facilities in Iraq.

The intelligence community assessed the drone to be of Iranian origin.

"As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing," said Secretary Austin. "No group will strike our troops with impunity."

U.S. forces entered Syria in 2015, backing local forces in their fight against the Islamic State (IS) group. There are roughly 900 U.S. troops, and even more contractors, in Syria.

The base in Hasakah is U.S.’ third in Syria. All of them are located in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Overnight, videos on social media purported to show explosions in Deir Ez-Zor, near America’s largest base in the country. This strategic province bordering Iraq contains oilfields.