Pro-Iran militia targets US troops in Syria with drones

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - On Saturday, a militia group supported by Iran claimed it hit American troops in southern Syria with drones, the latest in a series of attacks against United States forces in the Middle East due to Washington’s support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas. 

The Pentagon has blamed Iranian proxies for 20 strikes in ten days against its forces. 

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on its Telegram channel early Saturday that it hit US troops based at al-Tanf garrison in Syria’s southern province of Homs with two drones. The same group has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.

“The targets were hit directly,” it said, repeating a sentence they use at the end of all of their statements about assaults on American forces. 

The US has not confirmed the group’s involvement in attacks on its forces, but has blamed Iran. “We know that these are Iranian-backed militia groups that are supported by Iran and of course we hold Iran responsible for these groups,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said during a press briefing on Thursday.

In response, the US on Thursday carried out airstrikes against pro-Iran militia groups in eastern Syria.

“A. U.S. military F-16 and F-15 fighter aircraft conducted self-defense strikes Oct. 26 (ET) on a weapons storage facility and ammunition storage facility used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups, located in the vicinity of Abu Kamal, Syria,” the Pentagon spokesperson said about the strikes in a detailed release to media on Saturday.

“Both facilities were destroyed. We currently assess there were no casualties in the strikes. These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria,” he added. 

He said that pro-Iran groups have carried out 20 separate attacks on the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS): “Between Oct. 17-27, U.S. and Coalition Forces have been attacked at least 14 separate times in Iraq and six separate times in Syria by a mix of one-way attack drones and rockets, for a total of 20 attacks to date.”

At least 21 US personnel received minor injuries in attacks on Iraq’s al-Asad air base and al-Tanf garrison on October 17 and 18, but all have returned to duty, according to the Pentagon. 

One civilian contractor died in the initial attack on US troops at al-Asad air base after suffering a heart attack. Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbassi paid a surprise visit to the air base the following day.