US troops in Syria 'hit by drone attack'

Weapon reportedly struck base in Hasakah province, Americans and war monitor say

US troops patrol near oil wells in Al Qahtaniyah in Syria's Hasakah province, close to the border with Turkey, last year. AFP

A base housing US-led coalition troops in north-eastern Syria was attacked using a drone on Friday, a US official and a war monitor said.

“Initial reports do not indicate any injuries, however medical evaluations are ongoing. We are currently conducting a damage assessment,” the US official told Reuters.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the drone hit the Kharab Al Jir base in Rumalyn area of Hasakah province.

The UK-based watchdog, which relies on a network of informants in Syria, said the drone hit the base.

It was the second time US forces in the Middle East were hit in recent days as the region braces for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies.

On Monday, five US personnel were injured when two Katyusha rockets were fired at Ain Al Asad base in western Iraq, an attack the Pentagon blamed on Iran-backed armed groups.

Iran has threatened revenge against Israel over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, in Tehran on July 31. Israel launched a war against the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza in October last year but has not claimed responsibility for killing Mr Haniyeh.

Iran said the US was responsible for the death of Mr Haniyeh because of its support for Israel.

The assassination and Israel's killing in Beirut of Fouad Shukr, a senior military commander in the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, have fuelled concern of the conflict in Gaza turning into a wider Middle East war.

The US has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighbouring Iraq, who it says are on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of ISIS, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later pushed back.