Biden’s first armed action kills rebels in Syria assault
JOE Biden has carried out his first military action as President, launching a deadly airstrike on Syrian facilities used by Iran-backed militias.
The attack is claimed to have killed 22 fighters.
After barely a month in the White House, Mr Biden struck following a rocket assault on a US base at Erbil International Airport in Northern Iraq.
The attack on February 15 killed a Filipino contractor with the States-led coalition and wounded six, including a National Guard soldier and four US contractors.
Officials said the US strikes were a small, careful military response in Al Bukamal.
A total of seven 500lb bombs dropped on a cluster of buildings at an unofficial crossing at the Syria-Iraq border used to smuggle weapons and fighters.
MILITANT
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “We’re confident that that target was being used by the same Shia militants that conducted the [February 15] strikes.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby added the attack “destroyed multiple facilities at a border control point used by a number of Iranianbacked militant groups”.
He claimed the groups included Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, adding the US action was a “proportionate response”.
Mr Kirby said it “sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel”.
He added the raids were meant to punish those behind the rocket attack but not to escalate hostilities with Iran.
Since Mr Biden came to power last month, he has sought to renew talks on a nuclear deal predecessor Donald Trump had ended.
Mr Kirby said: “We have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq.”