At least six Kurdish fighters killed in drone attack claimed by Iranian proxy network

At least six Kurdish fighters were killed in a drone attack on a US military base in eastern Syria late on Sunday.

A kamikaze drone hit a training ground at Al Omar base in Deir Ezzor province, killing six members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the group said yesterday, adding that it had the right to respond to the strike. No US troops were reported killed or injured.

The SDF initially attributed the attack to “Syrian regime-backed mercenaries”, but later said Iranian proxy militias were responsible.

“Initial investigations have confirmed that the Iranian-backed militias were behind the one-way UAV terrorist attack against our forces,” SDF spokesman Farhad Shami wrote on social media yesterday.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, claimed responsibility for the attack and published footage that appeared to show them launching a drone.

Late last month, the same group carried out a drone attack that killed three US troops at a base in Jordan.

In response, the US military launched dozens of strikes against Iran-backed armed groups in western Iraq and eastern Syria last Friday.

US President Joe Biden said at the time that further strikes would come “at times and places of our choosing”, and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday’s attacks were only “the start of our response”.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in October last year, Iranian proxy militias have increased their attacks on US military bases and troops in Iraq and Syria, and have intensified calls for American troops to withdraw from both countries.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said at least seven SDF fighters were killed in the attack on Sunday, and at least 18 wounded, some in critical condition.