These weapons systems ‘presented a clear and imminent threat to American and coalition forces’, US Department of Defense spokesman General Pat Ryder told the press.
This Tuesday (3), the United States Army destroyed rocket launchers, a tank and mortars in eastern as they represented a “threat”, reported the . These weapons systems “presented a clear and imminent threat to American and coalition forces,” US Department of Defense spokesman General Pat Ryder told the press, referring to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group ( EI) in the region.
“We are evaluating who used these weapons, but we know there are Iranian-backed militia groups in the area that have carried out attacks” in the past, Ryder added. The United States has approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of an international coalition created in 2014 to combat IS terrorists, who took control of large parts of Syrian and Iraqi territory before being defeated in 2019.
There are still active jihadist cells, mainly in rural areas and away from large cities. Since the start of the war in Gaza, pro-Iranian groups have resumed attacks against American interests in Iraq and Syria. Washington, Israel’s main ally, counterattacked on several occasions.
On November 27, a coalition of rebels dominated by the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the former Syrian branch of Al Qaeda, launched a devastating offensive in northwestern Syria, taking dozens of towns and a large part of Aleppo, according to city in the country. General Ryder assured, this Tuesday, that the American attack is not “related to the broader activities carried out by other groups in northwest Syria.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
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