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An American service member was wounded in a series of new attacks that targeted coalition bases in northeastern Syria on March 24, just a day after a fatal drone attack on a U.S. base in the region.
On March 23, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and a second U.S. contractor wounded when a suicide drone struck a coalition base near the city of al-Hasakah.
The U.S. Central Command retaliated with airstrikes against facilities in the governorate of Deir Ezzor used by forces affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Defense Department said the intelligence community had determined the unmanned aerial vehicle used in the attack was of Iranian origin.
Following the U.S. strikes, a salvo of rockets hit the coalition’s Green Village base, which is located within al-Omar oil fields in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, without causing any losses.
Iranian-backed forces in Syria warned in a statement released late on March 24 that they have a “long-arm” to respond with.
The online statement, signed by the Iranian Advisory Committee in Syria, said the strikes had left seven of their fighters dead and wounded seven others, without specifying the fighters’ nationality.
“We have the capability to respond if our centers and forces in Syria are targeted,” the statement reads.
A new wave of attacks on U.S.-led coalition bases in northeastern Syria was reported right after the release of the statement.
U.S. officials told Al Jazeera that two simultaneous attacks were launched against coalition forces in Syria. According to the officials, one U.S. service member was injured in a rocket attack at the Conoco gas plant in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside but was in stable condition.
At about the same time, several suicide drones attacked the Green Village base. All but one of the drones were shot down and there were no casualties there, said U.S. officials who spoke to the Associated Press.
President Joe Biden said on March 24 commenting on the strikes that targeted Iranian-backed forces a day earlier that the U.S. would respond “forcefully” to protect its personnel in Syria.
“The U.S. does not, does not seek conflict with Iran,” Biden said in Ottawa, Canada, where he is on a state visit. But he said the U.S. was prepared “to act forcefully to protect our people. That’s exactly what happened last night”.
As of March 25 morning, the situation in northeastern Syria appears to be calm. However, Iranian-backed forces in Deir Ezzor are reportedly still placed on high-alert as a new wave of retaliatory strikes by the U.S.-led coalition is highly expected.
In August of last year, the region experienced similar clashes. Back then, both sides de-escalated to avoid a full-blown military confrontation.
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