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Late on December 21, at least four explosions rocked the southeastern Syrian area of al-Tanf where the US-led coalition maintains a large garrison.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) was among the first sources to report the mysterious explosions in al-Tanf. According to the London-based Syrian monitoring group, warplanes of the US-led coalition were flying over the area at the time of the explosions.
“There is still no information indicating if the explosions were the result of detonating mines, military training or a security breach caused by an unidentified attack on the garrison,” the SOHR’s report reads.
Around 200 US troops are usually deployed at al-Tanf garrison, which was established in 2016. The US-led coalition maintains a 55 kilometers no-fly, no-drive zone around the garrison.
On October 20, al-Tanf came under attack. The garrison was targeted with five suicide drones and indirect fire. The attack resulted in some serious material damage. However, there were no casualties. On December 14, a warplane of the Royal Air Force shot down one of two small drones that breached al-Tanf’s no-fly zone.
US officials believe that Iran or Iranian-backed forces were behind both the October 20 attack and the December 14 drone incident.
The US claims that its forces are present in al-Tanf to counter ISIS in Syria’s central and southern regions. However, the garrison was in fact established to block a strategic highway that links the Syrian capital, Damascus, with Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
