Pro-Iranian militias attack US base in Syria

A US military base in eastern Syria was attacked by Iranian-backed militias using UAVs, killing five Kurdish fighters.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) announced on February 4 that it had deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack the US military base near the Al-Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor province, eastern Syria. This is the largest base operated by the US and its allies in the Middle Eastern country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the raid hit an area reserved for the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) inside the base, killing five fighters and wounding about 20. The US supports Kurdish militia groups in the area.

The US Department of Defense has not commented on the information. There are currently no records of casualties among US forces after the raid.

Pro-Iranian militias attack US base

IRI forces launched an attack on a US base in Syria on February 4. Video: IRI

IRI is an alliance of Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq that has carried out more than 150 attacks on US military facilities and units in Iraq and Syria over the past three months, since the war broke out in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions in the Middle East have increased after a drone attack on a US base in Jordan on January 28 killed three US servicemen. Washington blamed the IRI for the attack and on February 2 launched a large-scale airstrike on the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Tehran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

The US airstrikes destroyed or damaged 84 targets in the two countries, but did not appear to cause any casualties among Iranian forces. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned on February 4 that the retaliation was just "the beginning".

US forces guard an oil field in northeastern Syria in February 2021. Photo: Daily Sabah

The February 4 incident was the second IRI attack on US bases in the Middle East after Washington launched airstrikes. IRI announced on February 3 that it had attacked a series of airports in Iraq and Syria, where many US soldiers were stationed.

"This is a move to continue to fight against the US forces occupying Iraq and the region, as well as react to the campaign of massacre of people in the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel," the force said at the time.

Location of Syria's al-Omar oil field (marked in red). Graphic: Google Maps

Pham Giang (According to AFP )

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