WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden canceled an air strike on a second target in Syria last week after a woman and children were seen in the area, a senior government official told NBC News.
Because of the presence of civilians, only one target was bombed in last week’s operation, which came in retaliation for the recent rocket attacks on US military personnel that the Pentagon attributed to Iran’s supported Shiite militia in Iraq, said a government official and a defense official.
The president made the decision to cancel the separate air strike after military reconnaissance revealed a woman and two children in the courtyard of the intended target, according to a senior government official.
The Biden government sent a private message to Iran after the attack, the government official said.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Biden’s decision, which came at the last moment, before the aircraft dropped bombs on the second target.
The target that was bombed last week by U.S. warplanes was a logistical transport post in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said was used by Iranian-backed militias. US officials attributed a deadly rocket attack to paramilitary groups in 15 February against a US-led coalition base in Irbil, northern Iraq.
Since the American bombing last week, an Iraqi air base northwest of Baghdad that hosts American troops has been attacked with rockets on Wednesday morning.
The US Army believes that the Iranian-backed militia is probably to blame for Wednesday’s rocket attack, three defense officials told NBC News.
The Pentagon is not yet ready to definitively say who launched rockets at the base of Ain al-Asad, northwest of Baghdad, but the attack is similar to previous attacks carried out by Iraqi Shiite militias armed and supported by Iran, the three officials said.
The base was hit by 10 122 mm medium-range rockets fired from a truck to the east, officials said. The February 15 attack on a US-led coalition base in Irbil, northern Iraq, had shorter-range 107 mm rockets.
A civilian contractor at al-Asad base suffered a cardiac arrest while protecting himself from the rocket attack and later died, according to the Pentagon. The vast base is home to some 1,400 coalition soldiers.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday that the United States was awaiting the results of an investigation into the attack by Iraqi authorities. The United States has reserved the right to respond if necessary, said Kirby, but added that “no one wants to see this situation get worse”.
Along with the recent rocket attacks on facilities hosting US military personnel, militia groups have stepped up roadside bomb attacks on convoys by private contractors supplying various bases in the country, according to Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Politics from the Near East, who studied the activities of militia groups. Trains are escorted by Iraqi security forces.
Amid tensions between the United States and Iran’s armed militias, Pope Francis will make a historic visit to the country starting on Friday.
