US carried out strikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria

washington — The U.S. military said Monday that it had carried out strikes against nine targets associated with Iranian groups in Syria.

In a statement, the U.S. military said the strikes were made against two locations in Syria and were a response to several attacks on U.S. personnel in Syria in the past 24 hours.

The U.S. has occasionally carried out strikes against targets linked to Iran in both Iraq and Syria. In February, the U.S. launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and militias it backs, in retaliation for a deadly attack on U.S. troops.

"These strikes will degrade the Iranian backed groups' ability to plan and launch future attacks on U.S. and coalition forces," the U.S. military said after the most recent strikes.

The U.S. has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighboring Iraq, on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swaths of both countries but was later defeated.

The U.S. has sent warships and fighter aircraft to the region since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7, 2023, to try to deter Iran and Iran-backed groups from getting involved in the conflict.

U.S. forces have also helped shoot down projectiles that Iran launched toward Israel this year.