The assault comes as violence in Syria intensifies, with opposition fighters advancing in opposition to authorities positions.
Washington, DC – The Pentagon has confirmed that the USA carried out a strike in opposition to navy property in jap Syria after a rocket assault close to one in all its bases.
Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder advised reporters on Tuesday that the US navy struck weapons techniques — together with rocket launchers and a tank — that “offered a transparent and imminent menace” to its forces within the space.
The US strike comes as violence escalates throughout the war-torn country. During the last week, armed opposition teams carried out a blistering offensive in northwest Syria in opposition to the federal government forces led by President Bashar al-Assad, ushering in a brand new stage of the nation’s long-running civil battle.
The offensive has raised questions on how the US would possibly reply and whether or not it might change into entangled within the battle, given its vital navy presence in Syria.
Ryder stated on Tuesday that the assault was in response to a rocket launch that fell “within the neighborhood” of Army Help Web site (MSS) Euphrates, a US base in jap Syria.
He added that it isn’t clear who was working the weapons, however Iran-backed teams and Syrian authorities forces are recognized to be within the space.
The Pentagon spokesperson harassed that the motion is “not linked to any broader actions in northwest Syria by different teams”.
However on Tuesday, Damascus accused the US of offering air assist for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which pushed to advance in opposition to government-controlled villages east of the Euphrates River, close to town of Deir ez-Zor.
The SDF has obtained US assist for years underneath the acknowledged intention of combating ISIL (ISIS).
Syrian state-run Alikhbaria TV reported on Tuesday that clashes had been going down between SDF and authorities forces close to the village of Tabiyet Jazira “with the intervention of US occupation jets which can be concentrating on the frontlines within the space”.
The SDF had claimed earlier within the day that it took management of seven villages east of the Euphrates as a result of “critical menace associated to the upcoming motion of enormous ISIS terrorist cells”.
“The deployment of our forces to those villages is in response to the pressing pleas and appeals of the native populace, following the growing potential dangers that ISIS will exploit the occasions within the west of the nation,” the SDF’s Deir ez-Zor Army Council stated in an announcement.
However the Syrian authorities stated the villages stay underneath its management.
Farther west, authorities troops have been battling rebels making an attempt to advance in the direction of the central city of Hama because the entrance traces of the battle, which had gone largely dormant over the previous 4 years, see main shifts.
Insurgent teams, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which had been confined to the northwestern Idlib province, launched their offensive final week, taking management of Aleppo and heading south in the direction of Hama.
The nation had skilled relative calm since 2020 with the federal government, insurgent teams and SDF largely remaining inside their unofficial territories.
However the opposition seems to have struck at an opportune second when President al-Assad’s predominant navy backers — Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah — are specializing in their own conflicts elsewhere.
The US, which calls Assad a “brutal dictator”, has denied any involvement within the rebels’ offensive, highlighting that Washington considers HTS to be a “terrorist” group.
HTS is a reiteration of al-Nusra Entrance, which operated as al-Qaeda’s department in Syria early within the battle.
In line with the Pentagon, Washington has 900 troops in Syria and a deep alliance with the SDF, one of many main events to the battle.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon’s Ryder declined to reply questions concerning the SDF’s operations within the Deir ez-Zor space.
“Our focus has been on working with the SDF because it pertains to countering ISIS, and that continues to be our focus,” he stated.
