Drone Strike Kills 1 Contractor, Injures 5 U.S. Service Members In Syria

A drone attack in Syria has left an American contractor dead and five service members injured, sparking retaliatory measures by the United States military.

Late Thursday night, a drone strike was launched against U.S. personnel in northeast Syria, CNN reported. Citing information from the intelligence community, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the drone was of Iranian origin and as such the United States military responded with “precision airstrikes” in Syria, targeting installations used by groups connected with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

“The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against coalition forces in Syria” by groups affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, Austin said in a statement, according to The AP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the retaliatory strikes sent by American forces killed six Iranian-backed militants at an armory facility near Deir el-Zour and two additional fighters near Mayadeen. Another group Deer Ezzor 24 has claimed the American airstrikes killed four people and wounded others, including Iraqis, The AP reported.