Pars Today

The Syrian Defense Ministry has blasted deadly strikes by the US occupation forces against a number of sites in Iraq and Syria, saying Washington’s assault is aimed at reviving the Daesh terrorist group in the two neighboring countries.

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) cited the ministry as making the remark in a statement on Saturday, hours after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had struck more than 85 targets “with numerous aircraft” during overnight raids on localities in Iraq and Syria.

The Syrian media reported that the US aggression targeted positions in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr and the city of al-Bukamal near the Iraqi border, falling short of providing details on the extent of damage and the exact number of casualties.

“The American occupation forces launched, at dawn today, a blatant air aggression against a number of sites and towns in the eastern region of Syria and near the Syrian-Iraqi borders, which led to the martyrdom of a number of civilians and soldiers, the wounding of others, and the infliction of great damage on public and private property,” the statement said.

The ministry stressed that the targeted sites were located in the same area where the Syrian army forces are fighting the remnants of Daesh, which bespeaks Washington’s attempts to deter Damascus from fighting terrorism and to “revive” the terrorist group.

“The area targeted by the American attacks in eastern Syria is the same area where the Syrian Arab Army is fighting the remnants of the terrorist organization Daesh, and this confirms that the United States and its military forces are involved and allied with this organization, and are working to revive it as a field arm for it, whether in Syria or elsewhere in Iraq by all dirty means,” the statement said.

“The US aggression today dawn has no justification, but it is an attempt to weaken the Syrian army’s capability to fight terrorism,” it added.

The Syrian Defense Ministry underlined that the Syrian Army, which has managed to defeat various terrorist groups over the past years, will continue to defend the country’s land and people.

“The occupation of parts of Syrian territory by US forces cannot continue,” the statement said, affirming the Syrian Army’s “determination to liberate all Syrian territory from terrorism and occupation.”

Meanwhile, Iraqi media reported early on Saturday that the US occupation forces had targeted the cities of al-Qa’im and Akashat near the Syrian border in Iraq’s western province of al-Anbar.

In a statement on Friday, US President Joe Biden said the strikes were the first in a series of actions by Washington in response to a drone attack that killed three American soldiers and left about 40 others injured in an occupation base near the Jordan-Syria border earlier in the week.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of anti-terror fighters, claimed responsibility for the drone strike in a statement published on its Telegram channel.

Iraqi resistance forces have conducted dozens of strikes on the US-run military installations in both Iraq and Syria amid growing anti-US sentiments in the region over Washington’s support for the Israeli genocidal campaign in Gaza.

SS