Several Iranian militia sites that allegedly threatened indirect fire on US forces along the Syria-Iraq border were attacked by the United States, CNN reported Jan. 4.
The possible reason for these strikes is that Iranian militias may have been planning an attack on US forces to coincide with the two-year anniversary of the U.S. assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force.Â
The United States and Iran have been continuing a low-level proxy conflict along the Syria-Iraq border.
US defense officials did not confirm that the country directly participated in the strikes, but that it was capable of destroying such targets in the area.
On Jan. 5, rockets hit near Baghdad international airport in Iraq, a location that hosts US troops, in the third attack in Iraq since Jan. 3.Â
Iranian-backed militias and US forces have attacked one another intermittently in Syria.