Rocket attack targets U.S. base in E. Syria: reports

DAMASCUS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) — A rocket attack targeted the U.S. military base located in the Conoco gas field in Syria’s eastern Deir al-Zour province Tuesday night, Syrian state television reported.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, explosions were heard near the Conoco gas plant, where U.S. forces are stationed, and alarms sounded throughout the base when it was hit.
The observatory said the attack was carried out by pro-Iran militia fighters.
Following the attack, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed militia, launched retaliatory shelling against Iran-aligned militants in western Deir al-Zour, the war monitor said.
The SDF reportedly used heavy machine guns to target these militias along the western bank of the Euphrates River.
No immediate reports of casualties from these skirmishes have been confirmed.
The Britain-based watchdog group noted that since October 2023, U.S. bases in Syria have come under attack for 135 times by Iranian-backed militias, 40 attacks of which specifically targeted the Conoco gas plant. ■