Several members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have been killed in a drone strike that hit a U.S. base in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, as regional tensions continue to escalate.
“A drone attack on a base housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria killed six allied Kurdish fighters late Sunday, in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias that have been targeting its forces in the region.
The U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Monday the attack hit a training ground at al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the forces’ commando units are trained. No casualties were reported among U.S. troops.
An umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, dubbed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, released a video claiming responsibility for the attack and showing them launching a drone from an unspecified location.
In late January, a drone attack by the same group killed three U.S. troops and wounded dozens more at a desert base in Jordan. The U.S. military launched dozens of retaliatory strikes targeting Iran-backed militant groups in western Iraq and eastern Syria and also struck the Houthis in Yemen.
The SDF initially accused ‘Syrian regime-backed mercenaries’ of carrying out Sunday’s attack but in a second statement blamed ‘Iran-backed militias’ after investigating the attack.
The umbrella group has launched dozens of drone attacks on U.S. military bases and troops in Iraq and Syria, and has called for the withdrawal of American soldiers from both countries.
Meanwhile, Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least seven SDF fighters were killed in the attack on Sunday and at least 18 others wounded, some in critical condition.
The attack late Sunday came two days after the U.S. military carried out strikes against militant targets linked to Iran in Syria and Iraq.
The SDF said it has the right to respond to the attack.
The U.S. military said it struck four anti-ship missiles on Sunday that were prepared to be fired at vessels in the Red Sea from Houthi rebel-controlled areas in Yemen.
In a statement early Monday, the U.S. Central Command said the strikes were in self-defense and came after forces determined the missiles ‘presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region’”. -Bassem Mroue and Kareem Chehayeb, Associated Press
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is a London-based, anti-Assad information office, reported that the death toll had risen to seven.
The pro-opposition war monitor also documented that 108 attacks had been carried out on bases of the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force across Syria since October 19th.