Eight pro-Iran fighters killed in US Syria strikes: Monitor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eight pro-Iranian fighters were killed when United States forces launched airstrikes against their positions in eastern Syria on Thursday in retaliation for a deadly drone strike on a Coalition base that killed a US contractor, a war monitor reported Friday.

"The airstrikes killed eight of the militants affiliated with Iran, six of whom were in the Harabish neighborhood in Deir ez-Zor city and two in the outskirts of Mayadin city," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said, adding that the death toll is expected to rise.

A US contractor was killed and six others were injured when a drone strike targeted a Coalition base near northeast Syria's Hasaka city on Thursday, Washington said. The drone was of Iranian origin, according to the Pentagon.

In retaliation and acting under the authorization of President Joe Biden, the Pentagon said American forces launched "precision airstrikes" against groups affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) based in eastern Syria.

There are no immediate comments from Syria or Iran.

On Friday morning, pro-Iran militias fired missiles towards the al-Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor where US forces are based, according to SOHR. There are no reports about damage.

Hundreds of US troops stationed in Syria are part of an international coalition that has fought alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group.

Attacks on US forces in Syria are often attributed to Iran-backed militias and factions, but have never been claimed. Ten pro-Iran fighters were killed in two days of strikes on the Syria-Iraq border in late January, but it was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks.

Eight pro-Iran fighters killed in US Syria strikes: Monitor

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