Kamikaze drone attack carried out on US base in northwestern Syria

TEL ABYAD, Syria

An air attack was carried out on the US base in northwestern Syria with a kamikaze uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), sources said Friday.

The attack was against the Shaddadi Base, where US soldiers are stationed in southern Hasakah, sources said on condition of anonymity due to media-related restrictions.

It is not known if there were casualties in the attack. The US did not provide details on the attack.

Since the beginning of 2024, at least four attacks have taken place on bases where US forces are stationed in Syria with rockets and kamikaze UAVs. The affiliation of the perpetrators is unknown.

Recently, attacks using kamikaze drones and ground-to-ground weapons have targeted US military bases in the Al-Tanf region in southeastern Syria, Malikiyya district near the Iraqi border, Al-Shaddadi in Hasakah province and Deir ez-Zor province.

Deir ez-Zor territories, located east of the Euphrates River, are under occupation by the US-backed PKK/YPG terror group, while the provincial capital and other rural areas are controlled by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime and Iran-backed groups.

Iran-backed groups occasionally launch attacks with rockets and armed UAVs on US bases on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.

Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in an Oct. 17 speech that if Israeli attacks continue, "resistance forces" in the region would take action.

Following those remarks, attacks with kamikaze drones and rockets were launched against US military bases in Syria and Iraq.

Iranian-backed groups in Syria and Iraq have claimed responsibility.

The US, blaming Iran for the attacks, announced that air raids had been conducted several times on facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups in eastern Syria starting Oct. 27.

*Writing by Merve Berker