Officials say the United States destroyed or damaged 84 of 85 targets in Iraq and Syria; There are no indications of Iranian casualties

CNN
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The United States destroyed or damaged 84 out of 85 targets in its forces A series of large-scale air strikes on Friday In Syria and Iraq, according to US defense officials, with no indications of Iranian casualties.

All but one of the 85 targets were “destroyed or suffered functional damage,” the officials said, citing a preliminary battlefield damage assessment.

A full post-strike analysis is still underway, but one official said there were no indications that members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed as part of the operations.

President Joe Biden told reporters traveling with him to Nevada on Sunday that the strikes work to deter and disrupt the operations of armed groups in the region.

In response to A Drone attack kills three US service members Dozens were injured in Jordan. Last weekend, the United States targeted facilities and weapons used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

This was the first time that the United States carried out strikes in both countries simultaneously. In Iraq, the United States targeted Al-Qaim and Akashat near the border with Syria. In Syria, the United States struck areas near Al-Baroom, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Mayadeen. The list of targets included command and control centers, intelligence centers, missiles and missiles, drone storage facilities, and others.

In a news conference on Friday after the strikes, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the targets were chosen “with the idea that there are likely to be casualties linked to people inside those facilities.”

The Biden administration has faced criticism that it waited too long to respond to the deadly drone strike in Jordan, which gave Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria time to move their personnel. Sims said Friday that good weather conditions for the operation did not exist until Friday night.

Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes, much larger than previous US operations in Iraq or Syria, were just the beginning of the US response.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN's Dana Bash:State of the UnionEarlier on Sunday, he announced that American retaliation for the strike that killed three American service members was far from over. Sullivan described Friday's strikes as “the beginning of our response and there will be more steps to come.”

Since the U.S. strikes, there was one attack on Saturday against U.S. forces at the Mission Support Site at Euphrates, also known as the Conoco Oil Fields, according to a defense official. The attack included firing two missiles at the site, but no casualties or damage were reported.