US Airstrike in Syria

President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered airstrikes on buildings in Syria that were used by Iranian-backed militias, in retaliation for rocket attacks on U.S. targets in neighboring Iraq.

Three rocket attacks in one week in Iraq, including a deadly strike that hit a U.S.-led coalition base in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil, led to Biden ordering violence only weeks after assuming his presidency. The rocket assaults coincided with a diplomatic initiative launched by the administration to try to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.

Two F-15 fighter jets dropped seven precision guided munitions on buildings used by the Iranian-backed militias, totally destroying nine structures and partially destroying two. The buildings were located in Abu Kamal, near the Iraqi border, a location known as a hub for the Iraqi Shiite militias supported by Iran.

The US Airstrike killed 22 people, and injured others. The Press Secretary for the Pentagon called the attack “Proportional and Appropriate.” Iranian officials did not immediately react to the strikes. The Syrian government condemned the attack on Friday, calling it “cowardly U.S. aggression.”