US denies reports that it carried out dawn strikes in Syria

The U.S. on Tuesday denied that it had carried out dawn air strikes in Syria after Syrian and Iranian state media said U.S. forces had bombed an eastern region and killed at least seven soldiers, including a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Syria state media said a civilian was also killed and at least 19 other soldiers and 13 civilians were wounded in strikes on residential areas and military sites in Deir al Zor province, with significant damage to public and private properties.

The U.S. on Tuesday denied that it had carried out dawn air strikes in Syria after Syrian and Iranian state media said U.S. forces had bombed an eastern region and killed at least seven soldiers, including a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Syria state media said a civilian was also killed and at least 19 other soldiers and 13 civilians were wounded in strikes on residential areas and military sites in Deir al Zor province, with significant damage to public and private properties. Iranian state media said a Revolutionary Guards adviser was killed in the air strikes, without giving his rank.

"We did not carry out air strikes in Syria last night," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters in Washington. Iranian-backed forces in eastern Syria have previously attacked some of the 900 U.S. troops based in the remote region. The United States has occasionally responded by carrying out strikes there against targets linked to Iran. Israel has repeatedly bombed Iranian targets in Syria.

Iran says its officers serve in an advisory role in Syria at the invitation of Damascus to support President Bashar al-Assad against internal and external foes including during a decade-long civil war with opposition forces who failed to topple him. Sources told Reuters in February that the Guards had scaled back deployment of their senior officers in Syria after a number of deadly Israeli strikes and would rely more on allied Shi'ite militia to maintain their influence there.

Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned Tuesday's air strikes. "It has become clear that the (U.S.) is exchanging roles with (Israel) to serve the goals of these parties that are internationally condemned," the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

"Whenever (the region) calms down in one area, they work to ignite it in another to keep the Middle East under fire and far from achieving comprehensive peace as stipulated in U.N. resolutions," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)