Several civilians, soldiers killed in US strikes in eastern Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria

US strikes in eastern Syria killed several civilians and regime soldiers, injuring others, state-run news agency SANA reported on Saturday.

"The American occupation forces launched a blatant air attack on a number of sites and towns in the eastern region of Syria and near the Syrian-Iraqi borders," SANA quoted a statement by the Syrian Defense Ministry as saying.

The strike led to the killing of “a number of civilians and military personnel, the wounding of others, and the infliction of significant damage to public and private property,” the ministry added, without providing further details.

The US began to carry out a wave of airstrikes Friday against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force and Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria after a drone attack killed three American troops in Jordan.

The drone strike killed three American troops and injured at least 34 others Sunday at Tower 22, a remote military installation in Jordan near the Syrian and Iraqi borders. The US has formally blamed an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

Iran-backed militias have been carrying out drone and missile attacks on US forces in the region for months amid Israel's ongoing war against the besieged Gaza Strip.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi