The U.S. military announced that a drone attack hit a compound run by American troops and U.S.-backed Syrian resistance fighters in eastern Syria on Monday, but there were no casualties or damage.
“Such attacks put the lives of innocent Syrian civilians at risk and undermine the significant efforts by our Partner Forces to maintain the lasting defeat of ISIS,” said Major General John Brennan, the commander of the Combined Joint Task Force. “Coalition personnel retain the right to self-defense, and we will take appropriate measures to protect our forces.”
Brennan condemned the “hostile activity” and called for an end to these “harassing attacks” but did not specify the source of the attacks.
Operation Inherent Resolve Forces in the region, led by Brennan, in coordination with Maghaweir al-Thowra (MaT) partners, responded to attacks by multiple unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in the vicinity of Al-Tanf Garrison on the morning of August 15.
During Monday’s attack, one UAS was successfully engaged, preventing its impact. A second UAS exploded within a MaT forces compound, causing no casualties or damage. The other one-way UAS strikes attempted were unsuccessful.
“Today al-Tanf Garrison, a partnered military base in southern Syria, defended against three One Way Attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that attempted to penetrate the base,” tweeted U.S. Central Command. “None of the UAVs were successful, and the attack resulted in no casualties or damage.”
The garrison was nearby the location of U.S.-confirmed Russian airstrikes in June. Russia had communicated with Washington through a deconfliction line that exists to inform the other power whenever operations have the potential of affecting each other.
The Department of Defense established the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) in 2014 to “formalize ongoing military actions against the threat posed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria.” The task force is the military component of a coalition of 77 nations and five international organizations committed to the defeat of Daesh (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, according to a CJTF-OIR fact sheet.
