A war monitor reported on Monday that an attack on an American base in eastern Syria overnight claimed the lives of seven fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights updated an earlier toll, saying that “a drone attack after midnight” on the Al-Omar oil field, the largest US-led coalition base in the country, resulted in the deaths of seven SDF special forces “commandos” and the injuries of eighteen others. Instead, saying that “six of our fighters were martyred due to a terrorist attack” with a one-way drone, targeting a “training academy in the Al-Omar oil field” around midnight, was the US-backed SDF, which led the fight against the jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State group in Syria.( 7 fighters led by Kurds were slain )

In a statement, the force denounced the attack and stated that it reserved the right to retaliate. Sunday’s drone attack was reported as being “against the US occupation base in the Al-Omar oil field” by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of fighters who support Iran and are against US support for Israel in Gaza. The attack on an SDF section inside the base was described as “the first attack by pro-Iran groups against American bases after the US strikes on Syria and Iraq” by Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory, late last week. Washington attributed the drone attack on January 28 that killed three US soldiers and injured over 40 others at a base in Jordan, which was supported by Iran. 

Sunday’s drone attack was reported as being “against the US occupation base in the Al-Omar oil field” by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of fighters who support Iran and are against US support for Israel in Gaza. The attack on an SDF section inside the base was described as “the first attack by pro-Iran groups against American bases after the US strikes on Syria and Iraq” by Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory, late last week. Washington attributed the drone attack on January 28 that killed three US soldiers and injured over 40 others at a base in Jordan, which was supported by Iran.

The US said it would continue with its retaliation after reacting on Friday with a string of unilateral strikes on targets in Syria and Iraq that were connected to Iran. At least 29 fighters who supported Iran were slain in the US strikes in Syria, according to the Observatory, which is based on a network of sources inside the country. The coalition led by the US was formed in 2014 to combat IS jihadists who had taken control of large areas of neighboring Syria and Iraq. As part of the alliance, about 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq and roughly 900 in Syria. In 2019, the SDF spearheaded the campaign to drive IS fighters from the remaining slivers of their Syrian territory, with assistance from the US. The force is the de facto armed forces of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration, which occupies large regions of northeastern Syria.

According to Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “six fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed” in an IS attack along the road connecting Deir Ezzor province with Hasakeh. West of the province of Deir Ezzor, a seventh was shot dead by gunmen associated with IS, according to the Observatory. The SDF, the de facto army of the Syrian Kurds and a vital US ally in the fight against IS, is in charge of the areas where the attacks were conducted. In 2014, IS overran large portions of neighboring Iraq and Syria, establishing a “caliphate” to rule over the millions of people living there. Although the Sunni Muslim extremist group was ultimately defeated in March 2019 after a protracted and brutal fightback by Syrian and Iraqi forces supported by the US and other powers, sleeper cells continue to carry out attacks in both countries. The SDF reported on Thursday that fighting had resulted in the deaths of two of its fighters and the arrest of six IS jihadists in a volatile camp in Syria where a security operation was in progress. Since the conflict in Syria broke out in 2011, almost 500,000 people have died and about half of the pre-conflict population has been displaced.