Rockets hit base housing US troops in Syria, no casualties

PTI, Jul 5, 2021, 8:12 AM IST

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A facility housing US troops in eastern Syria came under attack late Sunday when rockets were fired from nearby areas, an opposition war monitor and a spokesman for US-backed fighters said.

No one was hurt in the attack in which two rockets were fired at al-Omar field in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, according to Siyamend Ali, a spokesman for the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. He added that it was not immediately clear where the rockets were fired from.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rockets were fired from areas controlled by Iran-backed fighters in the area of Mayadeen, also in Deir el-Zour. The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The rocket attack came six days after US troops in eastern Syria came under a similar attack. Last week’s attack came a day after US Air Force planes carried out airstrikes near the Iraq-Syria border against what the Pentagon said were facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups to support drone strikes inside Iraq.

Hundreds of US troops are stationed in northeastern Syria, working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to fight against the Islamic State group.

Thousands of Iran-backed militiamen from around the Middle East are deployed in different parts of Syria, many of them in areas along the border with Iraq. Iran-backed fighters have joined President Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria’s 10-year conflict. Their presence helped tip the balance of power in Assad’s favor.