US denies its troops were attacked in Syria

Syria news agency and a spokesman for US-backed Syrian fighters say rockets were fired at facility housing troops, but US military denies any attack took place

A coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces base near the village of Susah in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the Syrian border with Iraq. AFP

A picture taken on November 13, 2018 shows a fishing boat crossing in the Euphrates River in Al Qaem city in the western Iraqi province of Anbar on the border with Syria. AFP

Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gather next to a building in the village of Susah in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the Syrian border with Iraq. AFP

Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces gather at Al Tanak oil field as they prepare to relaunch a military campaign against ISIS, near Abu Kamal in the province of Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria. AFP

Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), trained by the US-led coalition, participate in the graduation ceremony of their first regiment in Al Kasrah, in the suburb of eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor. AFP

US-backed forces are pictured near the village of Susah in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the Syrian border with Iraq. AFP

A facility housing US troops in eastern Syria came under attack late on Sunday when rockets were fired from nearby areas, an opposition war monitor, state media and a spokesman for US-backed fighters said, but the US military denied there was any attack.

“There is no truth to the reports that US forces in Syria were attacked by rockets today,” tweeted coalition spokesman Col Wayne Marotto.

Earlier on Sunday, Siyamend Ali, a spokesman for the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said two rockets were fired at Al Omar field in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor without inflicting any casualties. He added that it was not immediately clear where the rockets were fired from.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rockets were fired from areas controlled by Iran-backed fighters in the area of Mayadeen, also in Deir Ezzor.

Syria's state news agency SANA also reported that Al Omar facility was hit with two rockets.

Later on Sunday, the Syrian Democratic Forces denied reports that another base housing US troops was hit, saying the sounds of explosions at the facility, known as Conoco, were from training with live ammunition.

The Al Omar reports came six days after US troops in eastern Syria came under attack. Last week’s attack came a day after US Air Force planes carried out air strikes near the Iraq-Syria border against what the Pentagon said were facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups to support drone strikes inside Iraq.

Hundreds of US troops are stationed in north-east Syria, working with the Syrian Democratic Forces to fight against ISIS.

Thousands of Iran-backed militiamen from around the Middle East are deployed in different parts of Syria, many of them in areas along the border with Iraq.

Iran-backed fighters have joined President Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria’s 10-year conflict.