Two rockets were fired at a US patrol base in northeastern Syria late Friday night. Similar incidents have happened three times now within the past nine days, though this latest incident has not yet been identified. Centcom did not give insight as to who would have fired the rockets, but they did say that they aimed to “coalition forces at the US patrol base in Al-Shaddadi, Syria”.
The strike at about 10:30 pm (1930 GMT) caused no injuries or damage to the base or coalition property, Centcom said. The US soldiers help Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are the Kurds’ unofficial army in this area, and led the battle that defeated IS from its last scrap of territory in Syria earlier this year.
A British-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights with a wide network of sources in Syria, said that the missile came from “a base of pro-Iranian militias.” Such groups are known to have significant influence in the region.
In spite of US assurances, Turkish drone strikes have continued to pose a danger to US troops. Tuesday’s strike killed two SDF fighters, and was just north of Hassakeh city in Syria. The Turkish military carry out a week of raids in Iraq and Syria with the aim of killing Kurdish militant Turkey claims it is just targeting the terrorist organizations in Syria like the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (YPG).
