5 February 2024, 17:33 GMTUpdated 2 hours agoImage caption, The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance controls much of north-eastern SyriaA drone attack on the largest US military base in Syria has resulted in the death of at least six Kurdish-led fighters who are allied with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The attack targeted the SDF’s commando academy at the al-Omar oil field in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour in the early hours of Monday. The SDF has accused Iran-backed militias of launching the drone from a nearby area controlled by Syrian government forces. On the other hand, an Iran-backed militia umbrella group has claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it took place on Sunday. The US military, which has around 800 troops in Syria to combat the Islamic State (IS) group, has not provided any comment or reports of casualties. This incident marks the second attack following US strikes against Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria over the weekend in response to a deadly drone attack on a base in Jordan. The Pentagon confirmed that a rocket attack occurred at its Mission Support Site Euphrates in Syria on Saturday, but there were no casualties or damages. The SDF, which has been in control of much of north-eastern Syria since defeating IS in 2019 with the support of a US-led global coalition, stated that six of its “commando fighters” were killed when a one-way attack drone targeted their training academy around midnight on Monday. The SDF condemned the attack and claimed its “right to respond appropriately to the source”. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, seven SDF commandos were killed and 18 were injured in what was reported as the 108th militia attack on US bases in the country since mid-October. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iraqi militias believed to be armed, trained, and funded by Iran, stated that it carried out a drone attack on Sunday “against the US occupation base in al-Omar oil field”. The IRI has claimed responsibility for numerous drone, rocket, and missile attacks targeting US troops in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, citing solidarity with the Palestinian people. While Iran has denied any involvement in the attack, the US believes that it manufactured the drone and that the coordination of the militias is overseen by its Islamic Revolution Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force. In response to the Jordan attack, the US struck more than 85 targets across seven facilities in Iraq and Syria, resulting in the deaths of 29 pro-Iran fighters in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Meanwhile, authorities in Iraq reported 16 fatalities. Amid the heightened tensions in the region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently in Saudi Arabia as part of a Middle East tour, his fifth since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. Mr. Blinken is set to visit Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank later this week, in an effort to negotiate a new deal to free Israeli hostages and prevent an escalation of the conflict.
