US Central Command (CENTCOM) has reported killing at least 37 in substantial airstrikes against different militant factions in Syria. The strikes were reportedly on September 16, and last Tuesday, September 24.
The first strike was carried out against an ISIS training camp somewhere in central Syria. That strike reportedly killed 28 people and was meant to disrupt the ability of ISIS to operate in the region. Four unnamed ISIS leaders were reported to be among the slain.
Tuesday’s strike was in northwestern Syria, where Islamist factions continue to hold substantial sway. This strike killed at least nine, including Hurras al-Din leader Marwan Bassam Abd al-Rauf. Hurras al-Din is an al-Qaeda-affiliated faction.
While northwest Syria comes under intermittent strikes from the US and assorted regional powers, the region is dominated by Sunni Islamist factions surviving from earlier stages of the Syrian Civil War. It is noteworthy that these groups organized celebrations over the weekend to cheer the recent Israeli assassination of Shi’ite Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
What the US hopes to accomplish with its intermittent attacks across Syria is not clear. Approximately 900 US troops are still stationed in that country, despite the opposition of the Syrian government, with no timetable for their exit.
Last month, US Central Command carried out yet another strike in Syria against Hurras al-Din. The senior figure of Abu Abd’ al-Rahman al-Makki was reportedly among those killed in that strike.
US troops are vulnerable, stationed in small groups in remote parts of Syria. Reports are that earlier today the US base at the Conoco gas field in Deir Ezzor came under fire from rockets and attack drones. While the extent of the attack isn’t clear, casualties have been reported.
These new attacks come as tensions soar across the region, as Israeli continues attacks on Lebanon and Syria, and in its war on the Gaza Strip. Within this powder-keg, the US is foolhardy to further insinuate itself by striking targets in Syria.
