Live updates: US launches strikes in Iraq and Syria as Israel-Hamas war rages

In this June 2023 photo from the US Air Force, a B-1B Lancer aircraft conducts a demonstration on in TanTan, Morocco. 1st Sgt. John Etheridge/US Army/File

Air Force B-1 bombers were among the US aircraft that carried out strikes Friday in Iraq and Syria, a defense official told CNN.

The B-1 is a long-range heavy bomber that can deploy precision and non-precision weapons.

The bomber crews that flew from the US made it in one non-stop flight, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Friday.

The US is “really confident” in the precision of its strikes on the militia targets, Sims said, crediting the B-1 bombers for that assessment.

“Initial indications are we hit exactly what we meant to hit, with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations” the US targeted, he said.

Sims said the US expected there to be casualties when it selected its targets.

“We know that there are militants that use these locations,” he said. “We made these strikes tonight with an idea that there would likely be casualties associated with people inside those facilities.”

The post was updated with additional details from a briefing by Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the B-1 bomber mission.