US retaliatory strikes in Syria target pro-Iranian fighters

The United States has carried out multiple air strikes against groups in Syria after a drone attack killed a US contractor at a base near Hasakah.

This incident is by no means isolated. American bases in north-east Syria have been targeted before, always prompting retaliatory air strikes.

Just under 1,000 American servicemen are operating out of bases in southern and eastern Syria as part of the US-led global coalition against the so-called Islamic State terror group.

The latest US strikes took place on Thursday night, soon after the drone attack, which US intelligence sources say was of Iranian origin – and probably connected to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps.

Reports suggest at least eight pro-Iran fighters were killed in the US response strike.

American Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin asserted the strikes were carried out on President Biden's orders in response to the drone attack as well as a series of recent attacks against coalition forces in Syria.

There was no immediate reaction from Tehran over the incident.