WASHINGTON: Advanced American F-22 stealth warplanes arrived in the Middle East on Thursday, the US military said, as Washington boosts its forces in the region ahead of an expected Iranian counterattack on Israel.
The deployment is part of “force posture changes in the region to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies,” US Central Command said on social media, without specifying the number or exact location of the planes.
The Pentagon said last week that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered assets including additional warships and a fighter squadron to the region.
Seven American personnel were wounded in a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this week that Washington blamed on an Iran-backed militia group.
And Tehran and its allies are expected to launch an attack on Israel in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures in strikes last week either blamed on or claimed by Israel.
The killings are among the most serious in a series of tit-for-tat attacks that have heightened fears of a regional conflagration stemming from the Gaza war.
US F-22 stealth warplanes arrive in Middle East
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US F-22 stealth warplanes arrive in Middle East
- The deployment is part of “force posture changes in the region to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies,” US Central Command said
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
