![Smoke rises after aircraft belonging to Assad regime forces carried out airstrikes over the de-conflict zone, Arbin town of Eastern Ghouta region in Damascus, Syria on 25 July, 2017 [Ammar Al Bushy/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/20170725_2_24937742_24441964.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
At least five members of pro-Iranian factions were killed in US airstrikes on the Iraqi-Syrian border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Monday.
"At least five Iran-backed Iraqi militia fighters were killed and several others were wounded in an attack by US warplanes on the militia's headquarters near the Iraqi-Syrian border and inside Syrian territories," SOHR announced in a statement.
Syrian news agency SANA reported that one child was killed and many civilians injured in airstrikes that occurred after midnight in Deir Ez-Zor's eastern countryside.
Earlier on Sunday, the Pentagon confirmed in a statement that it had conducted "retaliatory targeted airstrikes" against "facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups" on the Iraq-Syria border.
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"US military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region," Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby disclosed in a statement, adding that President Joe Biden gave orders to carry out the attacks.
Kirby confirmed that the targets – two in Syria and one in Iraq – were selected because: "These facilities are utilised by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq."
According to the Pentagon spokesperson, the facilities were used by several pro-Iran factions, including the Kataeb Hezbollah and Kataeb Sayyid Al-Shuhada.
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