The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a combat organization commanded by Kurds and affiliated with the US, have reported losing at least six fighters as a result of a drone strike on a US military base in eastern Syria.
“Six of our fighters were martyred in a terrorist attack by a suicide drone originating from areas controlled by Syrian regime mercenaries,” the SDF said in a Feb. 5 statement.
The attack, which happened shortly after midnight, was directed towards a training camp close to the al-Omar oilfield east of the Syrian city of Deir al-Zour, according to the SDF.
Seven SDF fighters have been confirmed killed and eighteen more injured, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring organization headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Officials from the United States have not yet issued a comment on the alleged incident, and no casualties among US soldiers have been recorded as of yet.
In order to combat the terrorist organization ISIS, the Kurdish-led SDF was established in 2015 with the aid and weapons of the US military.
The number of US soldiers stationed in eastern Syria since 2015 is presently believed to be around 900.
Like its partner Tehran, Damascus considers the American military's occupation of Syria to be "illegal."
It also views the SDF as a terrorist organization and a U.S. proxy force in the area.
The attack on the facility in eastern Syria was attributed by the SDF to extremist organizations with Iranian support.
“Preliminary investigations confirm that Iran-backed militias were behind the terrorist drone attack on our forces in the al-Omar oilfield,” the group stated in a social media post.
The SDF affirmed that it has the right to retaliate against attacks on its people.
Since the United States carried out a series of extensive strikes on Syrian and Iraqi targets on February 2, the alleged attack in eastern Syria was the first of its sort.
U.S. authorities claim that over 85 sites connected to the Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and militia organizations supported by Iran that are active in the area were struck by the strikes.
Later, the Syrian defense ministry declared that an indeterminate number of civilians and troops had died as a result of the attacks in Syria.
“The occupation of Syrian territory by U.S. forces cannot continue,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The Syrian military … is determined to liberate all Syrian territory from terrorism and occupation,” it added.
For its part, the Iraqi military issued a warning, claiming that the American strikes will only inflame the already unstable Middle East.
The bombings were a "violation of Iraq's sovereignty," according to spokesperson Yahya Rasool of the Iraqi army, and they would probably have "dire consequences... for the entire region."
The massive bombardment was directed against militia groups supported by Iran, who have recently attacked American soldiers in Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.
According to the groups, Israel's onslaught in the Gaza Strip, which has killed hundreds of Palestinians since early October, largely civilians, is the reason behind the attacks.
The Pentagon reports that since Israel started its war in Gaza, American personnel stationed there had been attacked over 165 times.
An umbrella organization of primarily Shiite militia units in Iraq, the self-styled Islamic Resistance in Iraq, has claimed credit for most assaults, including the most recent one in eastern Syria.
The organization asks that Israel stop its attack in Gaza and that all American soldiers leave Syria and Iraq immediately.
It took credit for an attack on an American base in northern Jordan last week that resulted in the deaths of three American service members and several injuries.
Although the target site, known as Tower 22, is close to both the Syrian and Iraqi borders, the strike took place within Jordan, a traditional ally of the United States.
Wide-ranging attacks against several sites connected to the terrorist organization Houthi in Yemen were also carried out on February 3 by the US and the UK.
The organization, also going by the name Ansar Allah and closely associated with Iran, has repeatedly carried out attacks on military and commercial ships navigating the Red Sea as retaliation for Israel's continuous assault on Gaza.
The Houthis' attacks have negatively impacted foreign trade and seriously hampered marine transportation throughout the region.
As stated by U.S. In the most recent series of American-British attacks, Central Command took aim at missile sites run by the Houthis that "posed an urgent danger to U.S. commercial and navy boats in the area.
The national security advisor for the White House, Jake Sullivan, has issued a warning about the potential for more attacks against Iranian-affiliated organizations in the area.
“We intend to take additional strikes, and additional action, to continue to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked, when our people are killed,” he said in televised remarks on Feb. 4.
February 5th, the U.S. On the first stop of his Middle East tour, Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched down in Saudi Arabia, where he will have meetings with regional leaders.
