Syria, Iran-Backed Groups Vow Revenge As US Defends Iraq Strikes

US military said it targeted weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one in Iraq in response to drone attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq.

The United States on Monday strongly defended weekend strikes against Iran-aligned militias but the fighters vowed revenge and both Iraq and Syria condemned the unilateral US air strikes as violations of their sovereignty. The US military said it targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one in Iraq in response to drone attacks by the militia against US personnel and facilities in Iraq. "We took necessary, appropriate, deliberate action that is designed to limit the risk of escalation, but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Rome. Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran in a statement named four members of the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction they said were killed in the attack on the Syria-Iraq border. They vowed to retaliate.