(Photo credit: Middle East Institute)
Washington’s Green Village military base in the US-occupied Al-Omar oilfield in northeast Syria was struck by two missiles on the evening of 18 February, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement, marking the first attack on a US base in the country since the devastating earthquake earlier this month.
In the evening of February 18th, a rocket attack targeted Coalition Forces at Green Village in northeast Syria. pic.twitter.com/nPRWu3qxZG
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 18, 2023
“On Feb. 18, at 8:28 pm local time in Syria, two rockets landed near Coalition Forces at Green Village in northeast Syria. No US or Coalition troops were killed or wounded and there was no damage to Coalition infrastructure or equipment,” the CENTCOM statement read.
“US forces in northeast Syria are investigating this incident. There are no claims of responsibility at this time,” it added.
The last attack on a US military facility took place on 20 January, when three suicide drones attacked the eastern Al-Tanf base, injuring a number of the extremist militants who are known to be trained by the US inside the facility. Around two weeks before the Al-Tanf drone attack, the US base in Deir Ezzor’s Conoco gas field came under heavy rocket fire.
These kinds of strikes are usually not claimed by anybody, but are generally attributed to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Five days ago, US forces shot down an alleged Iranian drone over the base at the Conoco gas field, which was reportedly conducting a reconnaissance mission.
On February 14th, at approximately 2:30 PM local time, US forces in Syria engaged and shot down an Iranian-manufactured UAV attempting to conduct reconnaissance of Mission Support Site Conoco, a patrol base in northeast Syria. pic.twitter.com/3GSf8odK3w
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 15, 2023
Lately, attacks against US military sites in Syria have increased quite significantly as a result of the continued occupation, which Washington has no plans of ending. The US claims its presence in Syria aims to deter ISIS.
On 19 February, CENTCOM released a vague statement announcing that the day earlier US forces, in coordination with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), carried out a “helicopter raid” in eastern Syria, “capturing Batar an ISIS Syria Province Official involved in planning attacks” against SDF-run detention centers and ‘manufacturing explosives.’
On the morning of 18 Feb, US and SDF forces conducted a helicopter raid in eastern Syria, capturing an ISIS official. pic.twitter.com/OMprEZmdCX
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 18, 2023
The US military is known to carry out ‘anti-ISIS’ strikes and operations across Syria. However, many have suggested over the years that these are merely superficial strikes which are designed to give the impression that Washington is actively engaged in fighting the extremist group. These operations have resulted in the deaths of civilians.
In 2019, a US airstrike on Deir Ezzor’s Baghuz village killed 60 civilians. In 2021, the US military justified this strike by claiming it was “necessary” in order to defeat ISIS fighters.