Armed suicide drones have attacked US troops in Syria, in the latest sign that Iranian-backed militias in the region could try to expand the war between Israel and Hamas by attacking US forces.
A Pentagon official told DailyMail.com that “multiple one-way drones” were launched Saturday morning against US and coalition forces stationed in the Rumalyn Landing Zone in northern Syria.
One drone was shot down before reaching its target, and the other hit the Rumalyn facility but did not explode, the official said. There were no injuries or damage to infrastructure.
Since October 17, there have been at least 48 similar drone or missile attacks targeting US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, according to Fox News, which first reported the attack on Rumalyn.
In retaliation for the escalating attacks, the US carried out a retaliatory airstrike on Wednesday on a weapons warehouse in eastern Syria reportedly used by Iranian forces and their proxy militias.
Suicide drones attacked US troops in Syria on Saturday. There have been at least 48 such drone and missile attacks in Syria and Iraq since October 17
The source of the drone strikes on US forces in Syria on Saturday was not immediately clear, but similar attacks over the past week have been blamed on Iranian-backed militants operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
For years, Iran has supplied its Qasef-1 drones and other UAV munitions to its allies in the region, including militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Gaza.
Rumalyn Landing Zone was also targeted by a 107mm rocket attack on October 8, a day after Hamas launched its sneak attack on Israel, killing 1,400, most of them civilians.
Israel responded to the Hamas attack by bombing the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and launching a ground attack on the Palestinian enclave in an attempt to remove Hamas from power there.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties, says more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war.
Hamas is armed and financed by Iran, and Washington has also blamed Iranian-backed militias for dozens of attacks on US troops in the region in recent months.
Iranian-backed forces have gained a foothold in Syria as they fought in support of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s civil war.
For years, Iran has supplied its Qasef-1 drones (above in a file photo) and other UAV munitions to its allies in the region, including militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Gaza
In 2020, American soldiers from the 1st Armored Division are active in Syria. There are currently about 900 US troops in Syria, most of them in the east.
In Wednesday’s retaliatory strike in Syria, two US F-15 fighter jets dropped multiple bombs on a weapons depot near Maysulun in Deir el-Zour known to be used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, US officials said.
“The President has no higher priority than the safety of America’s personnel, and he led today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement declaration.
A U.S. military official told reporters in a phone call that people were seen in the warehouse during the day as the U.S. military monitored the site for hours, but the number dropped to about “a few” at night when the attack occurred, according to the Associated Press. .
The official said the attack caused secondary explosions, indicating the presence of weapons, but the US believes no civilians were killed and that all people in the warehouse had ties to the Revolutionary Guards or Syria-based militias.
A second senior defense official said the attack was aimed at “disrupting and compromising the capabilities of groups directly responsible for attacking US forces in the region,” by specifically targeting facilities linked to the Revolutionary Guard .
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (center) and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad (right) are seen during a bilateral meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Iranian-backed forces gained a foothold in Syria as they fought in support of Assad during the country’s civil war
In Wednesday’s retaliatory strike (above) in Syria, two US F-15 fighter jets dropped multiple bombs on a weapons depot near Maysulun in Deir el-Zour
The precision strike, the defense official said, was deliberate and intended not to escalate the conflict in the region.
The military official said a deconfliction phone line connecting U.S. military personnel with Russian troops in Syria was used to notify them of the attack.
U.S. troops were first deployed to Syria during the Obama administration’s campaign against Islamic State, working with a Kurdish-led group called the Syrian Democratic Forces.
There are currently about 900 US troops in Syria, most of them in the east.