US begins retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria for killed troops

The U.S. military has begun carrying out strikes against targets in Iraq and Syria late Friday night local time. U.S. Central Command said it struck more than 85 targets using more than 125 precision munitions. “The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” CENTCOM said in a statement. Friday’s strikes are in response to last weekend’s deadly attack at the small U.S. military post in northeast Jordan known as Tower 22. Three U.S. troops were killed in the attack, while more than 40 others were injured. The United States has accused the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, of carrying out the attack. U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, indicated that the U.S.’s response would be multipronged and could include multiple aspects occurring over days. “We will have a multitiered response,” Austin said on Thursday. “And, again, we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on what the situation is.” Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, were the first U.S. troops to be killed in the ongoing attacks carried out by Iraqi militias. President Joe Biden and Austin attended Friday’s dignified transfer, which is the process in which a fallen U.S. service member is returned to the United States via Dover Air Base, hours before the strikes began. Biden spoke with the families of the service members earlier in the week.