According to the US military’s Central Command, a drone strike took place against a base of the US-led coalition in southern Syria.
According to a CENTCOM statement from Friday, “three one-way attack drones targeted the al-Tanf Garrison in Syria.”
The coalition fired down two of the drones, while the third one damaged the facility and injured two allied Syrian opposition fighters who received medical attention, according to the statement.
Without mentioning the perpetrator, CENTCOM spokesperson Joe Buccino remarked, “Attacks of this nature are unacceptable.”
“They endanger the campaign against ISIL and put our troops and our allies in danger.”
The incident was not immediately attributed to anyone.
Near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders, close to al-Tanf, a desert fortress on the crucial Baghdad-Damascus highway, are forces backed by Iran.
Iran is a significant backer of the Syrian regime, and the coalition has previously prevented attacks on al-Tanf.
There are also active ISIL (ISIS) sleeper groups in the region.
In order to prepare Syrian fighters for the fight against ISIL, the coalition established the base in 2016.
Even after Kurdish-led forces captured the last Syrian stronghold of the fighters in March 2019, it kept the building.
As part of the coalition’s ongoing offensive against ISIL remnants, about 900 US troops are still stationed at al-Tanf and other facilities in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.
In the past, the US has attacked what it claims were infrastructure installations utilized by organizations connected to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It said that the strikes were in retaliation to suspected attacks on al-Tanf by fighters with Iranian support.
The Syrian government has repeatedly voiced opposition to the US presence there and called for the withdrawal of US troops.
