Attacks in Syria and Iraq ratchet tensions in a region on edge

Iran accused Israel of launching an airstrike on the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Saturday that killed senior Iranian military figures, the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on officials from Iran and two of its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran vowed to retaliate, raising fears of even deeper regional turmoil rippling out from the war in the Gaza Strip.

Separately, several U.S. troops in Iraq were being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries on Saturday evening after their air base in the western part of the country came under heavy rocket and missile fire from what U.S. officials said were Iran-backed militants. It was the latest of roughly 140 such rocket and missile strikes against U.S. troops based in Iraq and Syria over the past several months.

The two incidents underlined the volatility that has been growing in the Middle East since Oct. 7, when Hamas, an ally of Iran, charged into Israel and carried out its terror attack. Israel has responded with a ferocious war in Gaza. Across the region, a dizzying array of strikes and counterstrikes risk spinning the conflict into a wider war.