US forces in Syria come under attack after strikes against Iranian-backed militias

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US forces stationed in an oil field in northeastern Syria came under a missile attack on Monday, a day after US planes launched air strikes on facilities used by Iran-backed militias in the border region between Iraq and Syria.

There are no injuries and damages are assessed. “We will provide updates when we have more information,” Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Wayne Maroto wrote on Twitter Monday afternoon.

US forces used artillery to respond to the sites from which the rockets were launched.

The exact source of the attacks against US forces in Syria was not immediately clear.

The missile attack comes after US air strikes on facilities used by Iran-backed militias.

“Precision defensive air strikes” targeted facilities used by militias such as Kata’ib Hezbollah and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, according to the Defense Ministry.

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The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the facilities targeted by the United States were participating in drone or drone attacks against American personnel and facilities in Iraq.

A US official said that the sites that were bombed include the site from which the drones took off and were retaken.

The official also said that Iranian-backed militias carried out “at least five” drone attacks against bases in Iraq where US forces, contractors or other personnel are present.

President Biden and members of his cabinet on Monday cited Article Two of the Constitution that allows the president to take action to defend American personnel as the authority to carry out strikes.

“Last night’s air strikes were directed at targeting sites used by Iranian-backed armed groups responsible for recent attacks on American personnel in Iraq, and I had that authority under Article 2,” Biden told reporters. “And even those in the hill who are reluctant to admit that this is the case.”

The decision to strike comes as Congress debates whether to govern the president’s authority in the war and whether to revoke both the 1991 and 2002 authorizations to use military force in Iraq.

The House of Representatives voted to repeal the 2002 AUMF in Iraq earlier this month, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to debate repealing both mandates.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia — who has led efforts to repeal the AUMF law — told reporters earlier this month that although the House bill did not include a 1991 mandate, the House and Senate could meet in conference to draft acceptable legislation. .

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