Pro-Iran groups target US forces in eastern Syria: Monitor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran-backed groups in Syria used rockets and drones to attack a gas field in eastern Deir ez-Zor province late Friday, a war monitor reported, adding the facility houses US forces.

The militia groups fired rockets and drones at the Conoco gas field in the al-Ezba area resulting in “violent explosions,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor reported. 

SOHR added that US troops based at the field intercepted some rockets. 

“This was followed by a response by the forces inside the base targeting the source of the attack,” reported SOHR, which relies on a network of sources within Syria.

No party has claimed responsibility, and the US military has not commented.

The area in the Middle Euphrates River Valley is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the partnered ground force of the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS).

Pro-Tehran groups have carried out at least 142 attacks on the coalition across Syria since October 2023, according to SOHR.

The attack comes amid increased conflict between US-allied Israel and pro-Iran groups, primarily Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria.

The United Nations has expressed concern over the possibility of conflict spilling across the wider region.