Less than an hour before the operation kicked off, commanders rescinded plans to strike two other bunkers due to the presence of seven unidentified individuals nearby, according to a US military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. In preparation for the operation, the US military ruled out targeting two of the 13 bunkers at the site due to uncertainty as to whether bombing them could harm civilians, officials said. The site is used by IRGC personnel and affiliated militias for logistical purposes and to store munitions, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed publicly today. American forces closely surveilled the facility for more than four hundred total hours leading up to the strikes, according to military officials briefed on the operation.

local time on Wednesday, US officials said. US military officials said groups tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were behind those attacks, but have not specified which.Įight US fighter jets, four F-16s and four F-15s, dropped guided bombs on nine bunkers at the Ayyash depot in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province around 4 a.m. US President Joe Biden authorized the strikes on Tuesday in response to the recent targeting of two US bases in Syria with rockets and armed drones. The US military said it carried out precision airstrikes against a bunker complex used by Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria early on Wednesday.

Air strikes