Casualties reported in US-Iran mutual attacks in Syria
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – On Friday night, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stationed west of the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, and the US-led Global Coalition forces stationed to the east exchanged a number of attacks.
A military source of the IRGC said that three of their positions were attacked on Saturday at dawn. The attack lasted for hours, leaving 13 IRGC personnel dead and wounded, according to the source.
It added that Vanguard Camp in Deir ez-Zor, which contains the largest training camp of the IRGC, guard posts of the Iranian-backed Liwa Fatemiyoun militia, and the Hezbollah militia, were attacked.
Drone strikes also targeted Hezbollah headquarters near Ain Ali shrine in the al-Mayadin desert, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, and an IRGC position on the outskirt of the town of Abu Kamal, he added.
The IRGC militias were on high alert and evacuated their positions after attacking the Global Coalition base in the al-Omar oil field, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, and the Conoco gas field near the town of al-Azba, in northern Deir ez-Zor, with reports of casualties among US troops.
The Global Coalition forces in the al-Omar and Conoco fields raised their combat readiness to repel any attack against their bases as helicopters were deployed across the Euphrates River bed.
On Friday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a statement that the Coalition forces attacked IRGC’s positions in response to the latter’s targeting of the Coalition bases which killed a US contractor and wounded a number of troops.
CENTCOM in turn pledged to respond to the attacks in a timely manner.
On Friday morning, 10 rockets targeted Coalition forces at the Green Village in Deir ez-Zor region, according to a release by the CENTCOM.
One of the rockets missed the facility by about 5 km, hitting a civilian house, causing serious material damage and slightly injuring two women and two children, the statement added.
“This kind of indiscriminate rocket attack places not only our forces and coalition forces at risk, but also jeopardizes the local civilian population as well as the security and stability of Syria and the entire region,” said Joe Buccino, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.
Reporting by Omar Abdulrahman