Six SDF members killed in drone strike on US base in Deir ez-Zor: SDF

Five SDF members were reportedly killed in a drone attack on an U.S. base in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2024/02/05 11:02

A US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter stands next to an armored vehicle, at al-Sabha town in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, Syria, Sept. 4, 2023. (Photo: Baderkhan Ahmad/ AP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Six Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) members were killed in a drone attack on a U.S. base in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate, the SDF confirmed on Monday.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that five members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in a drone attack by an Iran-backed militia on Syria’s Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor on Sunday.

Rami Abdulrahman, SOHR founder and director, confirmed to Kurdistan 24 that the so-called Iraqi Islamic Resistance group reportedly killed five members of the SDF and wounded 20 others.

The SDF later confirmed that six SDF fighters were killed in the drone attack that targeted a training academy in the Omar oil field last night. The drone originated from Syrian-government-controlled areas in Deir ez-Zor.

“While we condemn this terrorist attack, we affirm our right to an appropriate military response to the source of the attack,” the SDF said.

The Islamic Resistance group on Sunday claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor.

On Feb. 3, the U.S. military said they struck more than 85 targets in both Iraq and Syria, killing at least 13 members of Iran-backed armed groups in Syria, including members of the Fatemiyoun Brigade from Afghanistan.

The strikes are a retaliation for the death of three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers at a remote US base in Jordan on Jan. 28 by a drone attack carried out by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia group.

Since October, U.S. and coalition facilities have been attacked more than 150 times in both Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias.

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told Al-Monitor in November, that Iranian-backed militias have not only attacked U.S. bases in Syria but the SDF as well, including a suicide drone attack on a SDF ammunition depot in Deir ez-Zor, in which several SDF fighters were injured.