A drone strike killed one U.S. contractor, injured five American service members and wounded one other contractor in Syria on Thursday, the Pentagon said.
— when it pledged to fight the rise of ISIS — a key turning point in the wider fallout from the 2011 Arab Spring protests that toppled governments across the Middle East.
Part of that fallout has morphed into a wider proxy conflict in Syria and the surrounding region, with Iran and the U.S. on opposing sides. Austin said that Thursday's retaliatory airstrikes were not just a response to the most recent drone strike, but also to a"series of recent attacks against coalition forces in Syria."
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has launched an estimated 78 attacks on U.S. forces in Syria since January 2021, U.S. Army General Michael"Erik" Kurilla, who heads Central Command, told theThe U.S. Central Command, which was formed in 1983 to monitor Iranian expansion, has raised alarm about the expansion of the Revolutionary Guard's military strength.
"Iran possesses the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East," Kurilla said."Even more concerning, Iran has advanced its nuclear program such that Tehran can now produce sufficient fissile material for a nuclear weapon in less than 14 days.In a statement following Thursday's airstrikes, Kurilla said the Army was"postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks."This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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