WATCH: Pentagon Releases Video of Airstrikes on Militia Facilities in Syria

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defensive precision strikes on a facility used by Iran-backed militia groups
This video screenshot shows U.S. military forces conducting defensive precision strikes on a facility used by Iran-backed militia groups for logistical support and transfer of advanced conventional weapons including unmanned aerial vehicles, June 27, 2021. (Al Hury/U.S. Central Command)

The Pentagon has released video of F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcons executing airstrikes Sunday evening on facilities it said were used by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

Three unclassified videos were posted on the Defense Department's official website early Monday morning.

The first black and white video shows an F-15E airstrike on a building in Al Hury in Syria. U.S. Central Command said the facility in this video was being used by militia groups for logistical support and transferring "advanced conventional weapons including unmanned aerial vehicles."

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The second video shows an airstrike conducted by an F-16C on Qasabaat, Syria. The camera hovers over two structures, one of which appears to be a hangar-like facility. Then one is engulfed in an explosion. The other follows seconds later. The camera's view then switches to a more distant image, in which smoke and dust billow from the site of the airstrike.

CENTCOM said that this facility was used by Iranian-backed militia groups for operations, planning and storage of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The third video shows an F-15E strike on a site in Syria known as As Sikak. This facility had multiple structures, and what appear to be nearly two dozen trucks, before some of the structures are destroyed by airstrikes.

CENTCOM said the groups were using this facility as a "coordination center" for shipping and transferring "advanced conventional weapons."

While the fighter jets on Sunday struck targets in both Iraq and Syria, near the border between the two nations, the videos appear to only show strikes in Syria.

The Pentagon said yesterday that the facilities were being used by groups such as Kata'ib Hezbollah and Kata'ib Sayyid al Shuhada to carry out at least five one-way unmanned aerial vehicle attacks against facilities used by U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq since April, as well as ongoing rocket attacks against U.S. and coalition forces.

The Pentagon said Sunday it believed the strikes had all hit their targets, but that it was too soon to say how many militia members, or civilians, may have been injured or killed.

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

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