US troops in northeastern Syria were attacked by a drone, a US official told Reuters on Friday, although initial reports indicated no injuries.
It is the second attack in recent days against US forces in the Middle East, as the region prepares for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Iran-backed Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran on July 31. The attack prompted a threat of retaliation from Iran against Israel, which is fighting a Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza. Iran blamed Israel for the killing. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Israel’s assassination and killing of a senior military commander in the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Iran said the US was responsible for Haniyeh’s assassination because it supported Israel.
“Initial reports indicate no injuries, however medical assessments are ongoing. We are currently assessing the damage,” a US official said on condition of anonymity regarding the attack in Syria.
The attack took place at the Rumalyn Landing Zone, which hosts US troops along with those from the US-led coalition.
Five US service members were injured when two Katyusha rockets were fired at Ain al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq on Monday, an attack the Pentagon blamed on an Iran-backed proxies.
The United States has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighboring Iraq, which it says are on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State, which seized large parts of both countries in 2014 but was later pushed back.
