U.S. contractor killed, five service members and contractor wounded in suicide drone strike in Syria
The U.S. carried out airstrikes in response to an attack on its troops in Iraq. The targets were linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Defense Department released a statement saying that a U.S. contractor was killed, and five U.S. military personnel and one U.S. contractor were injured when a suicide drone struck a coalition base in northeast Syria. It happened just before 2 p.m. local.
According to the statement, the intelligence community believes that the drone was Iranian-made. The U.S. responded by launching airstrikes against Iranian-linked targets within the region.
Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary, stated that "Under the direction of President Biden I authorized U.S. Central Command forces today to conduct precision airstrikes in eastern Syria against facilities used with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, (IRGC)".
"The airstrikes were launched in response to today’s attack and a series recent attacks on Coalition forces in Syria by groups associated with the IRGC.
He said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the contractor who died and those who were injured in the attack earlier this morning."
Two service personnel were wounded and treated on-site. Three others, as well as the injured U.S contractor, were evacuated to hospitals in Iraq.