U.S. Begins Bombing Syria and Iraq In Retaliation Against Iran-Backed Targets After Three Soldiers Killed

The U.S. military began striking targets in Syria and Iraq on Friday as part of the retaliation against Iran-backed forces after the death of three U.S. service members in Jordan.

“As expected, we are now getting word from a U.S. defense official that the retaliation has begun, that U.S. airstrikes from multiple platforms have begun in retaliation for the deaths of three U.S. service members who whose bodies were transferred to Dover, Delaware, today,” reported Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum.

“Jennifer Griffin is reporting that the strikes are at targets in Syria. And Jennifer is joining us right now from the Pentagon. Jennifer, good to have you with us. Obviously, we’ve been waiting for word that this is underway. Tell us, tell us what you’re learning,” MacCallum continued, introducing Fox’s senior national security correspondent.

“Well, Martha, what I’m hearing from senior U.S. defense officials is that strikes from multiple U.S. platforms have begun against targets in Syria. They may not be limited to those targets in Syria, but the first explosions have been heard on the ground. And we can now confirm from a U.S. defense official that the U.S. is involved in those targeted airstrikes,” added Griffin.

“They would not tell me exactly which platforms were firing. But we do know that B-1, B-Lancer bombers have been deployed to the region. Those are, of course, the Air Force’s largest. It’s a supersonic, warplane that can drop the largest conventional payload. You also have multiple U.S. destroyers in the region that can fire Tomahawks. You have the USS Florida, which is a, a submarine that also is is loaded with about 150 Tomahawk missiles. We’ve been expecting this. This has been the sort of the worst kept secret in Washington,” continued Griffin, adding:

The president said earlier this week that he had taken a decision. We knew that U.S. Central Command had put together a series of targets, a campaign, if you will. We heard from Defense Secretary Austin yesterday here in the Pentagon briefing room that this would be a multi-tiered and multi-day, if not multi week, campaign against these Iranian proxies that have been threatening U.S. forces firing up to 166 times in the last few months at U.S. bases, killing three Americans.

As the news broke there was some initial confusion as Griffin and other outlets clarified that the initial airstrikes were not from the U.S.

ABC News reported, “An initial battery of strikes in Syria did not come from the U.S., sources say. U.S. strikes are still anticipated.” However, shortly thereafter, additional confirmation came from U.S. sources that the military did indeed strike Syria. Reuters, along with CNN and the New York Times, cited three officials saying the U.S. conducted retaliatory airstrikes in both Syria and Iraq.

This is a developing story and has been updated.