Rockets target coalition forces in eastern Syria; no casualties

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two rockets targeted forces of the US-led coalition in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province on Monday, resulting in no casualties or material damages, according to a statement from the force. 

“Two 107mm rockets targeted Coalition Forces east of Deir Ezzor, Syria, today at approximately 9pm local time in Syria,” read a statement from the coalition’s Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force – Levant (SOJTF-Levant).

Hundreds of US troops stationed in eastern Syria have fought alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group. 

“Attacks of this kind place Coalition Forces, Partner Forces, and the civilian populace at risk and undermines the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region,” SOJTF-Levant spokesperson Jonathan Ferrer said. 

Attacks on US forces in Syria are often attributed to Iran-backed militias and factions, but have never been claimed. 

On February 14, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said they had shot down an Iranian drone that was surveying a base of the coalition in northeast Syria. 

Tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran playing out in Iraq and Syria have simmered down over the past year. In August, US forces launched airstrikes targeting facilities used by Iranian-backed militias in Deir ez-Zor in an attack it said was in retaliation to an attack on a US base.