Iranian-backed Syrian militias are believed to be behind this attack, in which no Americans were injured.
On Friday morning three suicide drones attacked a US base in eastern Syria, wounding two Syrian opposition fighters.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Friday that one of its military bases in eastern Syria was the target of a “multiple drone strike.”
First attack in five months | Unknown drones attack International Coalition base in Al-Tanaf area#SOHRhttps://t.co/vjSoreQrSj
— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) January 20, 2023
Three drones attacked the al-Tanf military base in southeastern Syria, located in the border triangle between Jordan, Iraq and Syria, CENTCOM said.
US-led Global Coalition forces managed to shoot down two drones. However, the third “reached the compound,” CENTCOM added.
“Two of the drones were shot down by Coalition Forces while one hit the compound, injuring two members of the Free Syrian Army partner force who received medical treatment. No US forces were injured,” read a brief CENTCOM statement.
The institution that belongs to the US army considered that this type of attack is unacceptable because it endangers its troops and partners.
“Attacks like this are unacceptable: they endanger our troops and our partners and endanger the fight against ISIS,” said CENTCOM spokesman Joe Buccino.
Who could be behind the attack?
Although US authorities did not name a possible culprit in the attack, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an opposition war monitor, said the attack was likely carried out by Iranian-backed fighters.
“SOHR sources have reported that the Al-Tanaf base, where the International Coalition Forces are stationed in the 55-kilometre demilitarized zone near the border triangle between Syria, Jordan and Iraq, has been attacked this morning by drones. unknown individuals believed to be affiliated with Iranian-backed militias,” the watchdog said in a statement.
The human rights organization noted that this is the first attack in a long time and the first against a coalition base this year.
“It should be noted that this is the first attack of its kind in the last five months and the first against Coalition bases in 2023,” the SOHR added.