American soldiers attacked as rockets hit military base in eastern Syria; USA says no loss of lives

American soldiers came under attack in eastern Syria when two rockets struck a military base on 4 January 2023. The US military said that no human or material losses were suffered in the attack.

The attack on Mission Support Site Conoco coincided with the third anniversary of the killing of Iran's senior military general Qassem Soleimani. He was assassinated in a US drone strike in Iraq's capital Baghdad in 2020.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack in eastern Syria, where it is not uncommon for bases housing US troops to come under rocket fire or mortar attacks. Iran-backed militia are based nearby as are sleeper cells of the Islamic State group that was defeated in Syria in March 2019.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the rockets were fired by Arab tribesmen in the region who are armed by Iran.

"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," said Joe Buccino, spokesman for the US Central Command, in a statement.

CENTCOM said members of the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces visited the site from which the rockets originated, and found a third that was not fired.

(With AP inputs)

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