CENTCOM, the combatant command responsible for US military operations in the Middle East, has confirmed that a rocket attack struck an area near the American base in al-Shaddadi, northeast Syria.
“Two rockets targeted coalition forces at the US patrol base in al-Shaddadi, Syria, today at approximately 10:31 pm local time,” CENTCOM said in a press statement late Friday.
“The attack resulted in no injuries or damage to the base or coalition property. Syrian Democratic Forces visited the rocket origin site and found a third unfired rocket,” the statement added, referring to the US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia that’s in de facto control of most of Syria east of the Euphrates River.
CENTCOM spokesman Joe Buccino condemned the rocket strike, saying “attacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian populace at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region.”
Buccino did not elaborate on how the US military’s illegal occupation of Syrian lands contributes to “stability and security” in the region.
The SDF captured al-Shaddadi, which is situated in Syria’s al-Hasakah province, from Daesh (ISIS)* in 2016. US forces have been operating in the area since at least 2017, and have repeatedly come under car bomb and rocket attack, allegedly by terrorist remnants.
Al-Shaddadi is a major strategic base and logistical hub for American forces in Syria, with Syrian media reporting last year that some 200 US troops had been airlifted into the town on helicopters, and from there deployed to the Omar oil field – Syria’s largest crude reservoir, and the Koniko gas field in nearby Deir ez-Zor. Major deliveries of weapons, ammunition and supply trucks have also been spotted making their way to the town.
Damascus has repeatedly accused Washington of cooperating with Daesh terrorists in the region. In April, Syrian media reported that US instructors were training Daesh inmates at a prison at the al-Shaddadi’s military base on how to use rocket propelled grenades and shoulder-fired missiles to attack Syrian government outposts, infrastructure and civilians in Deir ez-Zor and near Palmyra. The Russian military indicated in February that US intelligence had transferred dozens of militants who had been detained in al-Shaddadi to the US-occupied At-Tanf outpost in southcentral Syria near the border with Iraq and Jordan for operations against Syrian forces. The Pentagon has denied cooperation with and training of any terrorist militants.
US forces and their Syrian Kurdish allies have systematically looted northeast Syria’s oil and food riches over the past five years, regularly shipping vehicle convoys loaded with crude oil and wheat out of the country to Iraq. The looting has left Syria dependent on Iranian and Russian fuel and food assistance, and robbed Damascus of funds needed to rebuild from a crippling foreign-backed war, which has caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.
This week, amid Turkish airstrikes in northeast Syria and Iraq and warnings by Ankara that it may soon begin a new ground-based offensive in the area, Syrian Kurds have reportedly sought to expand contacts with Damascus.
* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.