Drone attack on US base in Syria, 6 Kurdish fighters killed

International Desk: At least 6 fighters were killed in a drone attack on the largest US military base in Syria. All of the fighters killed were fighters of the US-allied Kurdish-led forces.

The attack took place early Monday morning. Several others were injured. BBC news. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the attack took place early Monday morning at their commando academy in the al-Omar oil field in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor. They blamed Iran-backed militias for the attack.

They claim that the drone was launched from a nearby area controlled by Syrian government forces. An Iran-backed militia group also claimed to have attacked the base on Sunday. There are about 800 troops in Syria to fight the Islamic State (IS) group. However, the US military has not commented on the attack or reported any casualties.

The strikes on Monday followed US strikes against Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria over the weekend in response to a deadly drone attack on a Jordanian base. The US Defense Department confirmed to the BBC that a rocket had hit its mission support site Euphrates in Syria last Saturday, but there were no casualties or damage.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have controlled much of northeastern Syria since defeating IS in 2019 with the support of a US-led global coalition. In a statement after the attack, the SDF said six of its "commando fighters" were killed in the attack.