US retaliatory airstrikes updates: White House vows to take 'more action'

Saturday's strikes in Yemen followed ones in Iraq and Syria the day prior.

Last Updated: February 4, 2024, 10:47 AM EST

The United States on Friday began to carry out airstrikes against Iran-backed militants and Iranian military targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a drone attack on an American base in Jordan on Jan. 28 that killed three U.S. service members.

Dozens of other American troops were wounded in the drone attack on the Tower 22 base near Jordan's border with Iraq and Syria. The U.S. says Iran is responsible for funding and arming the militants while Iran has denied involvement.

U.S. President Joe Biden had quickly warned that America would respond forcefully, escalating U.S. involvement in the Middle East after months of trying to contain tensions from boiling over into a broader war in the region.

Feb 2, 1:59 pm

What we know about the drone attack on US base in Jordan

The U.S. has attributed the drone attack on the American base in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias.

According to a U.S. official, the drone that successfully hit the base was an Iranian-made Shahed drone, similar to those used by the Russians on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Iran has denied involvement in the Jordan strike. But President Joe Biden earlier this week faulted Iran for providing munitions and funding to these different proxy groups.

The U.S. base is known as Tower 22, a major logistical hub for U.S. troops still in Syria on a mission to prevent a resurgence by Islamic State fighters. According to Central Command, there are approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel deployed to the base.

In this Maxar satellite image, Tower 22, which houses a small number of U.S. troops, is shown in northern Jordan.
2024 Maxar Technologies via Getty Images

Feb 02, 2024, 6:45 PM EST

'We believe that the strikes were successful': Kirby

The Department of Defense is in the early stages of battle damage assessment "but we believe that the strikes were successful," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a call Friday.

"The initial indications are that we hit exactly what we meant to hit, with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations," Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Chiefs, said on the call.

Kirby said the strikes took place in the course of 30 minutes and involved over 125 precision-guided munitions. Of the seven total strike locations, three were in Iraq and four were in Syria, according to Sims.

Targeted facilities included command and control centers, intelligence centers, rocket missile and drone storage facilities, and logistics ammunition supply chain facilities, Kirby said.

Kirby noted the targets were chosen to avoid civilian casualties and because they were connected to enabling the attacks against the U.S. service members.

The administration does not know at this time if or how many militants may have been killed or wounded.

Officials would not tell ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce definitively whether there will be more strikes Friday night but said all U.S. aircraft were out of harm's way.

Kirby said the strikes are expected to continue in the "coming days."

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow, Sarah Kolinovsky and Molly Nagle

Feb 02, 2024, 5:55 PM EST

Iraqi border area with Syria being targeted: Iraqi military

The city of Al-Qa'im on the Iraqi border with Syria as well as other areas along the Iraqi border with Syria "are being subjected to air strikes by United States aircraft," the spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces said in a statement.

"These strikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, an undermining of the efforts of the Iraqi government, and a threat that will drag Iraq and the region into unforeseen consequences, the consequences of which will be disastrous for security and stability in Iraq and the region," the statement continued.

Feb 02, 2024, 5:40 PM EST

Defense Secretary Austin: 7 facilities used by groups to attack US forces were struck

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said U.S. military forces, at Biden's direction, conducted strikes on seven facilities inside Iraq and Syria that "Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militias use to attack U.S. forces."

"This is the start of our response," Austin said in a statement. "The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing."

Like Biden, Austin stressed the U.S. doesn't seek conflict in the Middle East but attacks on U.S. troops won't go unanswered.

"We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our forces, and our interests," he concluded.

Feb 02, 2024, 5:21 PM EST

Biden says US response will continue 'at times and places of our choosing'

President Biden, who earlier Friday attended the dignified return of the three Army reservists killed in the Jordan drone attack, signaled more action is to come.

"Our response began today," Biden said in his first statement on the strikes in Iraq and Syria.

"This afternoon, at my direction, U.S. military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack U.S. forces," he added. "It will continue at times and places of our choosing."

He ended saying, "The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world," he continued. "But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond."