The U.S. military has executed airstrikes targeting areas associated with the Iranian-backed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other militant groups in eastern Syria, the Pentagon announced on the evening of October 26th.

The strikes come in retaliation for a series of drone attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria which injured 21 service members. An American civilian contractor died from a cardiac arrest incident during one of the attacks.

“The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated.

President Joe Biden has warned Iran against using the Israeli-Hamas War as a cover for launching attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East. “My warning to the Ayatollah is that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond, and he should be prepared,” Biden told the media on October 25th.

The United States recently deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups to the Middle East in response to the increasing tensions resulting from the Israel-Hamas War. The U.S. military maintains a force of 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria. The Pentagon has sent additional air defense systems and 900 more troops to the region.

The U.S. does not yet have information on the effectiveness of the airstrikes, or the amount of casualties and damage inflicted on the militant groups.