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The White House championed the airstrikes that hit two facilities in eastern Syria being used by Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday as holding Iran responsible for recent attacks on U.S. troops in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we proved pretty clearly last night that we\u2019re holding Iran accountable,\u201d Kirby said on Fox News<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n President Biden ordered U.S. military forces to carry out \u201cself-defense airstrikes\u201d<\/a> on a weapons storage facility and an ammunition storage area used by the IRGC. The U.S. military conducted the \u201cdiscreet precision strikes\u201d against the facilities near Al Bukamal, Syria, close to the border with Iraq using two F-16 fighter jets, an official said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe IRGC works for the Supreme Leader and they are directing, facilitating, funding, training the militia groups that are attacking our troops in Iraq and Syria,\u201d Kirby continued on Friday. \u201cAnd those two targets we hit last night, go right to the IRGC.\u201d<\/p>\n There have been at least 19 attacks against the U.S. military<\/a> in the Middle East since last week, including four in Syria and 12 in Iraq, with three new attacks just on Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.<\/p>\n Twenty-one American troops have suffered minor injuries as a result of the attacks, many of them traumatic brain injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re walking away from any culpability by the IRGC or \u2026 the regime and in terms of targets that we \u2026 chose to hit,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n He added that if the attacks continue, the U.S. military will \u201ccontinue to do what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirby said the plan is to go directly to the ammunition and storage facilities to target \u201ctheir ability to support\u201d militia groups. The other priority, he added, would be to send a strong deterrence message.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope they got that message. If they don\u2019t, if they didn\u2019t, and if \u2026 these attacks continue, and as the President said, we\u2019ll continue to respond,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n