According to a U.S. military spokeswoman, the United States conducted airstrikes in eastern Syria targeting Iranian-backed militia sites.

The strikes in oil-rich Deir Ezzor province, ordered by President Biden, "targeted infrastructure facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command (Centcom).

Buccino stated that the "precision strikes are intended to defend and protect U.S. forces from attacks like the ones on August 15 against U.S. personnel by Iran-backed groups," when several Iran-backed drones hit an outpost of U.S.-led anti-jihadist forces without causing casualties.

The colonel told CNN separately that Tuesday's missiles hit nine bunkers in a complex used for munitions storage and logistics.

Initially, the U.S. military intended to bomb 11 of the 13 bunkers in the complex but canceled strikes on two after groups of people were spotted near them. He added that an initial assessment suggested that no one was killed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, told the Associated Press that at least six Syrian and foreign fighters were killed. This group and the activist collective Deir Ezzor 24 told the AP that the U.S. strikes targeted the Ayash Camp controlled by the Fatimiyoun militia, which includes Afghan Shiite militants.

The colonel stated in the Centcom statement that U.S. forces "took proportionate, deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize the risk of casualties,"

Hundreds of American troops are stationed in northeastern Syria as part of a coalition dedicated to attacking the remnants of ISIS.

Syrian official media did not report the U.S. strikes immediately.

The strike occurred the same day that Iranian state media reported the death of a Revolutionary Guard officer serving as a military adviser in Syria.

The sources did not specify how the general was slain; they referred to him as a "defender of the sanctuary," a word used to describe people who operate for Iran in Syria or Iraq.

Iran asserts that it has only sent advisory personnel to Syria at Damascus' request.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is the ideological wing of the Iranian military and is on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations.