A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle flies a combat patrol mission within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Feb. 18, 2023. U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Daniel Asselta
F-15s strike weapons facility in Syria
Operation was response to attacks on U.S. troops in the region, Defense Secretary Austin said.
ABOARD A MILITARY PLANE—Two U.S. F-15 fighter jets attacked a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria on Wednesday, in what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called a “precision self-defense strike” in response “to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by the [Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]-Quds Force” and related groups.
The facility was used by the IRGC, Austin said.
“We are responding to a number of attacks against our forces and these are defensive strikes,” Austin told reporters. “They are not connected to what Israel is doing in its efforts against Hamas. So, in terms of deterrence overall, our goal is to make sure that the conflict that’s in Gaza doesn’t expand and become a region-wide conflict. To this point, we don’t think that that’s happened. We are going to do everything in our power to make sure that it doesn’t happen.
“If the attacks against our forces don’t decrease or stop, we will take additional measures... I think we’re going to do everything we can to protect our troops. And we are absolutely serious about that.”
The U.S. military will continue doing counter-ISIS missions in Iraq and Syria, Austin added.
Separately, U.S. Central Command is investigating an MQ-9 military intelligence and surveillance drone that was shot down in international airspace Wednesday off the coast of Yemen, a senior defense official said. The airstrikes were not related to the drone’s downing, officials said.