US launches new airstrikes against IRGC facility in Syria as attacks continue

Jared Szuba

Nov 8, 2023

NORTHEASTERN SYRIA - MAY 26: U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter gunners scan the desert while transporting troops on May 26, 2021 over northeastern Syria. U.S. forces, part of Task Force WARCLUB operate from remote combat outposts in northeastern Syria, coordinating with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in combatting residual ISIS extremists and deterring pro-Iranian militia. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) — NORTHEASTERN SYRIA - MAY 26: U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter gunners scan the desert while transporting troops on May 26, 2021 over northeastern Syria. — John Moore/Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The United States military on Wednesday launched a new round of airstrikes targeting a facility in eastern Syria which the Pentagon said was used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the latest sign of broader escalation with Iran-backed groups.

"Today, at President Biden’s direction, US military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

"This strike was conducted by two US F-15s against a weapons storage facility. This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates," Austin said.

It was the second round of US airstrikes in eastern Syria in just two weeks as the Biden administration struggles to contain the fallout from Israel's war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and clamp down on a cycle of militia attacks targeting local US bases.