ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three drones belonging to Iran-backed militias were shot down Monday by US forces as they attempted to strike a coalition base in central Syria, a war monitor reported as anti-US attacks surge in Syria and Iraq over Washington’s support for Israel.
“American forces were able to shoot down three drones belonging to Iranian militias” as they tried to strike Al-Tanf Garrison in Syria’s Homs province, which houses US troops, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor.
Syrian state media later on Monday said that the "Iraqi resistance" targeted two US bases in Syria with two drones and "resulted in direct injuries."
The US-led coalition has yet to confirm the attack, and no parties have so far claimed responsibility.
US forces are on high alert in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria where pro-Iran militias have repeatedly launched rocket and drone attacks on American interests in response to Washington supporting Israel in its war against Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, SOHR said that Al-Tanf Garrison was targeted by Iranian-backed militias, and added that the base was put on high alert in anticipation of retaliatory attacks from militias under the pretext of supporting Gaza.
Two of the three drones were shot down by coalition forces, and the attack resulted in the injury of two coalition personnel and material damages.
American military bases in Iraq and Syria have come under threat from attacks by rockets and explosive-laden drones, especially following the US assassination of Qasem Soleimani, head of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in Janaury 2020. The attacks have mostly been blamed on pro-Iran militia groups.
Updated at 3:18 pm with Syrian state media statement
