5 militants killed in US air strikes in Iraq, Syria
At least five members of the paramilitary group have been killed in a US airstrike on the border area between Iraq and Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said fighters were killed and several others wounded during the attack on the Syrian side of the border.
The Pentagon said it had conducted air strikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militant groups in the region.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the US targeted operational and weapons storage facilities, targeting two locations in Syria and one in Iraq, both close to the border between those countries.
According to Kirby, resident Joe Biden directed the air strikes against the targets of the Iran-backed militant.
It was Biden’s second use of force in the region since taking office five months ago, a retaliation for Washington’s claim of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting US interests in Iraq.
According to SOHR, in February, at least 17 members of the paramilitary group were killed in US strikes in Syria along the Iraq border.
Notre Dame Law School professor Mary Ellen O’Connell has criticized the US attacks as a violation of international law.
That said, the United Nations Charter makes it absolutely clear that the use of military force on the territory of a foreign sovereign state is valid only in response to an armed attack on the defending state for which the target state is responsible.
None of those elements were found in the attack in Syria.
The airstrikes have come at a critical time between the US and Iran.
Negotiations on the restoration of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the Austrian capital Vienna have shown positive signs of finalizing the historic eel and finding a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
During the JCPOA Joint Commission meeting in June, representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and Iran agreed on a number of important issues related to the revival.
However, the US and Iran are divided on how to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the nuclear deal.
