Rockets strike near base holding US troops in Syria without causing injuries
By Oren Liebermann, CNN
A number of rockets struck near a military base in northeastern Syria housing US troops on Monday night but did not cause any injuries, according to US officials and a statement from the US-led coalition.
The attack on the Green Village base near the Iraqi border did not result in damage or injuries, according to Maj. Gen. John Brennan, the commander of Combined Joint Task Force — Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the US-led operation against ISIS.
One official said the base holds a “small number” of coalition forces, including US service members.
Several of the rockets failed to launch and were recovered by forces from the US-led coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces.
Earlier on Monday, multiple drones were repelled in an attack near the At-Tanf base in southern Syria.
US-led coalition forces repelled all but one of the drones which detonated within a compound used by Maghaweir al-Thowra partner forces but did not cause any injuries.
The coalition did not say who was responsible for either of Monday’s attacks. However, Iranian-backed militias in the region have frequently targeted US troops in Syria and Iraq.
In January, Iranian-backed forces launched eight rockets at Green Village, doing minor damage to the base and a nearby mosque.
The US maintains approximately 900 troops in Syria, largely split between the At-Tanf base and the country’s eastern oil fields.
In January, the US military conducted strikes in Syria after indirect fire posed what a US-led coalition official called “an imminent threat” to troops near Green Village.
Although there was no specific attribution for the indirect fire, then-Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the US continues to see threats against US forces in the region from Iranian-backed militias.
“In just the last few days, there have been acts perpetrated by some of these groups that validate the consistent concerns that we’ve had over the safety and security of our people,” Kirby said at a news briefing in January.
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