US attacks targets in Syria, Houthi rebels join the fight

As tensions rise in the Israel-Hamas conflict, US and allied troops have been attacked by regional militants at least 19 times in Iraq and Syria over the past week, with a total of 21 US troops suffering minor injuries.

The US military used F-16 fighter jets and precision weapons to attack targets in Syria. Photo: US Army

US wants to protect forces in the Middle East

“These precision defensive strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and largely unsuccessful attacks on U.S. service members in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups since October 17,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

The strike was ordered by President Joe Biden, who sent a rare message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Tehran not to target US personnel in the Middle East, the White House said earlier Thursday.

Meanwhile, Secretary Austin said in a statement: “If attacks by Iranian proxy forces against US forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.”

The strike took place at around 4:30 a.m. Friday in Syria near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq, and was carried out by two F-16 fighter jets using precision weapons, a senior U.S. official said. The targets were weapons and ammunition storage facilities, the official said.

The US has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighboring Iraq, carrying out a mission to advise and support local forces to prevent the rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).

Houthi attack from Red Sea

There are growing concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict could spread across the Middle East and target US troops at isolated bases. Last week off the coast of Yemen, a US warship shot down more than a dozen drones and four cruise missiles fired toward Israel by Houthi forces.

In a new development, drones caused explosions that rocked two Egyptian towns on the Red Sea on Friday. Israel later said Yemen's Houthi militia was planning to attack Israel.

Yemen's Houthi militant group is showing signs of joining the Israel-Hamas conflict by launching missiles and drones from the Red Sea into Israeli territory. Photo: GI

The blasts injured six people and highlighted the risk of regional spillover from the Israel-Gaza conflict. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Houthi forces had launched drones and missiles “with the aim of harming Israel.”

The Egyptian military said two drones were fired from the southern Red Sea. It added that a drone crashed into a building next to a hospital in the Egyptian town of Taba, which borders Israel, injuring six people on Friday morning.

Egypt said a second drone was shot down outside Egyptian airspace on Friday morning and debris fell in the desert area of ​​the town of Nuweiba, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Israeli border.

Witnesses in Taba and Nuweiba, popular tourist destinations on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, said they heard explosions and saw smoke and Egyptian warplanes flying overhead.

"The Egyptian air force and air defense are intensifying efforts to secure Egyptian airspace in all strategic directions," the Egyptian military said. "Israel will cooperate with Egypt and the United States and strengthen its defenses in the region against threats from the Red Sea region," an Israeli spokesman said.

Bordering both Gaza and Israel, Egypt is facing an escalating conflict following Hamas' deadly October 7 attack and Israel's subsequent fierce retaliatory attack on the Gaza Strip.

Bui Huy (according to Reuters, AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/my-tan-cong-cac-muc-tieu-o-syria-phien-quan-houthi-o-yemen-tiep-tuc-tham-chien-post270228.html