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BEIRUT (AP) — British troops on Saturday joined U.S. allies in a new offensive against Yemeni militias.of US forces earlier launched attacks on dozens of locations. Iranian-backed fighters have been deployed in western Iraq and eastern Syria in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three U.S. service members and injured dozens in Jordan in late January.
Tensions are high in the region israel-hamas war A week later, Iranian-backed fighters, loosely allied with Hamas, launched drone and rocket attacks against U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria.Fatal Attack the desert outpost known as Tower 22 in Jordan Tensions further escalated near the Syrian border.
What happened in Yemen?
The United States and Britain announced that they had launched a barrage of fire. Attacks on Houthi targets In Yemen, from fighter jets and warships in the Red Sea.
According to the U.S. and British forces, the airstrikes hit 13 locations and 36 Houthi targets. This is the third major joint operation in two weeks between the United States and Britain to attack Houthi weapons launch pads, radar sites and drones.
The attack was carried out in retaliation for near-daily missile and drone attacks on merchant ships and warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin supports recent series of attacks by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand aimed at “protecting life and free commerce in one of the world’s most important waterways.” He said he is doing so.
What kind of jets were used in the Yemen airstrike?
The Houthi targets were reportedly attacked by U.S. F/A-18 jets from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, British Typhoon FGR4 jets, and the Navy destroyers Gravely and Carney, which fired Tomahawk missiles from the Red Sea. . U.S. officials and the British Ministry of Defense were informed.
Who was targeted in Syria and Iraq and why?
Friday’s strike was in retaliation. Three US soldiers killed in drone attack in Jordan on January 28th.
The US military struck 85 targets in seven locations in a strategic region where thousands of Iran-backed fighters are deployed to expand Iran’s influence from Tehran to the Mediterranean coast.
US military bases in Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zour province and northeastern Hassakeh province have been under attack for years. The Euphrates River flows through Syria and into Iraq, with U.S. forces and U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters on the east bank, and Iranian-backed fighters and Syrian government forces on the west.
US military bases in Iraq are also under attack.
Iranian-backed militias control the Iraqi side of the border and have free access to Syria, where they are stationed alongside allies of Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah and other Shiite militias.
Members of the Iraqi Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces clean up debris after a U.S. airstrike in al-Qaim, Iraq, Saturday, February 3, 2024. U.S. Central Command said in a statement Friday that the U.S. military has struck more than 85 targets. against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its affiliated militias in Iraq and Syria. (AP Photo/Popular Mobilization Forces News Bureau)
What happened in Iraq and Syria? How many people were killed?
The U.S. military announced that a barrage of fire had hit its command and control headquarters. intelligence center. Storage area for rockets and missiles, drones and ammunition. It also includes other facilities associated with militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, which is responsible for Tehran’s relations with and arming of regional militias.
Syrian opposition activists said the airstrikes hit the Imam Ali base near the Syrian border town of Bukamal, the Ain Ali base in Quriya just south of the strategic town of Mayadeen, and a radar center in the mountains near the provincial capital. said. Deli el zour.
Rami Abdulrahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 29 civilian fighters were killed in the air strikes.
Omar Abu Laila, a Europe-based activist and director of the Deir Ezzor 24 news organization, said the attack also hit a border crossing known as Humaidyyah, where militias cross between Iraq and Syria. He said the airstrike also hit an area known as the “security area” within Mayadeen town.
Iraqi government spokesman Basim al-Awadi said the border attack killed 16 people and caused “significant damage” to homes and private property.
The Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iranian-backed militia coalition nominally under the command of the Iraqi army, said airstrikes in western Iraq damaged logistics sites, tank battalions, artillery positions and hospitals. The PMF said 16 people were killed and 36 injured, and authorities were searching for others missing.
Will Iranian-backed fighters retaliate?
Iran and groups supporting it in the region aim to pressure Washington to force Israel to end its overwhelming offensive in Gaza, but do not seem to want an all-out war. A defeat for Hamas would be a major setback for the Iranian government, which considers itself and its allies to be the main defenders of the Palestinian cause.
The Iraqi Islamic Resistance Movement, an umbrella organization for Iran-backed groups, carried out two explosive drone strikes on Saturday against a US military base in Erbil city in northern Iraq and a military post in northeastern Syria near the Iraq border. announced.
The only growing group supported by Iran is Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have made clear they have no intention of scaling back their operations.
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Baldor and Kopp reported from Washington.
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