U.S. launches retaliatory strikes

A drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six people on Thursday in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said Friday. The U.S. intelligence community determined the drone was of Iranian origin, said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Five American troops and one U.S. contractor were among those wounded in the drone strike at a coalition base in the city of Hasaka. American forces responded by targeting facilities used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, killing an unspecified number of people.

Have there been other strikes on U.S. facilities? Iran has launched about 80 attacks on U.S. positions, mostly in Syria, since January 2021, said U.S. Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla. He also said that American forces could carry out additional strikes if necessary. Protests against the Syrian government started in 2011 and became a war between the government and rebel groups. Russia and Iran back the Syrian government, while the United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia back the rebel groups.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Mindy Belz’s report on a decade of destruction in Syria.