Death toll revealed after US strikes elite Iran forces, proxy groups in Iraq and Syria

The death toll has been revealed after the US military launched 125 air strikes on two nations in a major escalation in the Middle East.

The US military launched retaliatory air strikes against Iranian forces and Tehran-backed militia groups in Iraq and Syria on Friday, killing at least 18 fighters.

“The air strikes employed more than 125 precision munitions,” US Central Command said on social media, adding that the targets included command and control and intelligence centres as well as rocket, missile and drone storage facilities belonging to militia groups and Iranian forces “who facilitated attacks against US and coalition forces.”

The air strikes in Syria came after a deadly drone attack killed three soldiers at a remote US base in Jordan, US media reported.

BREAKING:

USA starts airstrikes against Iranian proxy groups in Syria & Iraq.

This vid shows secondary explosions after US planes struck a weapons depot in Al-Qaim, Iraq.

The retaliation for drone strike that killed 3 U.S. soldiers in Jordan has started pic.twitter.com/BKhR9CeDph

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 2, 2024

“Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm - know this: If you harm an American, we will respond,” he added.

The strikes targeted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force as well as “affiliated militia groups,” with American forces including long-range bombers flown from the United States hitting “more than 85 targets,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

The strikes killed at least 18 pro-Iran fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists the strikes lasted about 30 minutes, though they involved a lengthy trip for the B-1 bombers that flew from the United States.

He said the Defense Department is still assessing damage from the strikes — which hit targets at seven separate facilities — but that the United States believes the raids were successful, and made clear that more would follow.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that at least 26 major sites housing pro-Iranian groups were destroyed in Syria, including weapons depots.

A weapons warehouse and a command centre belonging to pro-Iranian groups were also targeted in western Iraq, along the Syrian border, two Iraq security sources told AFP, resulting in at least “some injuries.” The strikes represent a “significant escalation,” according to Allison McManus, managing director for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress.

But she was sceptical about the impact, adding: “We have not seen that similar tit-for-tat strikes have had a deterrent effect.”

Joe Biden attends the dignified transfer of the remains of Army Reserve Sergeants William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett, three U.S. service members who were killed in Jordan during a drone attack. Picture: Kevin Dietsch/ Getty Images

US issues stark warning

In a statement following the strikes, the US warned it would do “whatever is necessary’ to protect Americans.

“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups continue to represent a direct threat to the stability of Iraq, the region, and the safety of Americans,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, U.S. CENTCOM Commander, said in a statement shared on X.

“We will continue to take action, do whatever is necessary to protect our people, and hold those responsible who threaten their safety.”

The statement was accompanied by a video showing a B-1 bomber aircraft taking off from its base.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups continue to represent a direct threat to the stability of Iraq, the region, and the safety of Americans. We will continue to take action, do whatever is necessary to protect our people, and… pic.twitter.com/Y53nvRfjjx

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 3, 2024

‘Dignified transfer’

Iraq, whose prime minister called for the departure of international troops after a previous US strike in Baghdad, condemned the latest military action as a violation of its sovereignty.

Kirby said Washington “did inform the Iraqi government prior to the strikes,” but did not elaborate on Baghdad’s response.

Biden earlier Friday attended a solemn military ritual at a Delaware air base for the return of the three soldiers killed in Sunday’s drone attack in Jordan.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown, also attended what is known as a “dignified transfer” — their presence highlighting the relative rarity of returning dead US service members in the wake of the exit from Afghanistan in 2021.

Biden places his hand on his heart during the dignified transfer. Picture: Kevin Dietsch/ Getty Images

Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, GA. Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Ga were killed in the drone strike in Jordan. Photo: Supplied

The soldiers killed on Sunday – William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett- were the first US military deaths from hostile fire in the Middle East since the October 7 Hamas surprise attack on Israel.

That attack sparked a devastating Israeli assault on Gaza, which has stoked tensions and violence in the region and dragged it ever closer to an all-out conflict.

US and coalition troops have been attacked more than 165 times in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since mid-October with weapons including drones, rockets and short-range ballistic missiles.

Dozens of American personnel were wounded in previous attacks, many of which have been claimed by a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that opposes US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict and wants American troops out of the region.

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson hit out at Biden’s operation as too little, too late.

“Unfortunately, the administration waited for a week and telegraphed to the world, including to Iran, the nature of our response,” he said in a statement Friday.

“The public hand-wringing and excessive signalling undercuts our ability to put a decisive end to the barrage of attacks endured over the past few months.” Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels meanwhile began targeting international shipping in November, sparking US and British air strikes aimed at reducing their ability to hit commercial vessels.