Drone attack on US base in Syria kills six allied Kurdish fighters as Iran-backed militias respond to American strikes and Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims responsibility

An Iran-backed militia in Syria says its fighters are responsible for a deadly attack on a base housing US troops in the eastern part of the country, the first since Biden approved a plan to target groups controlled by Tehran in the country. Middle East are supported. .

The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday that the attack hit a training ground at the al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the armed forces’ commando units are trained. No casualties among U.S. troops have been reported.

This new escalation of hostilities comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to the region, his fifth visit since Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7.

An umbrella group of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq released a video claiming responsibility for the attack and showing them launching a drone from an unspecified location.

In late January, a drone strike by the same group killed three U.S. troops and injured dozens of others at a desert base in Jordan. The US military launched dozens of retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militant groups in western Iraq and eastern Syria and also hit the Houthis in Yemen.

The SDF initially accused “Syrian regime-backed mercenaries” of carrying out Sunday’s attack, but blamed “Iranian-backed militias” in a second statement after investigating the attack.

The umbrella group has launched dozens of drone strikes on US military bases and troops in Iraq and Syria, and has called for the withdrawal of US soldiers from both countries.

Rights said at least seven SDF fighters were killed and at least 18 others were injured in Sunday’s attack, some in critical condition.

The attack came late Sunday, two days after the US military carried out strikes on militant targets linked to Iran in Syria and Iraq.

The SDF said it has the right to respond to the attack.

The US military said on Sunday it struck four anti-ship missiles that were ready to be fired at ships in the Red Sea from Houthi rebel-controlled areas in Yemen.

In a statement early Monday, U.S. Central Command said the strikes were in self-defense and came after troops determined the missiles “posed an imminent threat to U.S. Navy and merchant vessels in the region.”

Sunday’s strikes came a day after the US and Britain launched a second wave of strikes against the Houthis, aimed at reducing the Iran-backed group’s ability to attack ships in the Red Sea. The US and Britain said they had hit 36 ​​Houthi targets.