The US recently carried out an airstrike in Syria, in the first military action undertaken by the the Biden administration. It targeted the facilities used by a number of Iran-backed militia groups, including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, who are allied with the Damascus government. The strike was ordered after a Filipino civilian contractor with the American led coalition was killed in a rocket attack on US targets in early February. A US service member and five other US contractors were also injured when the rockets hit sites in Erbil, including a base by the US-led coalition.