A US military official stated that since October 17, 2023, US forces and international coalition forces have been attacked at least 130 times in Iraq and Syria, including 77 attacks on US bases in Syria.

In response to a journalist’s question during the US Defense Department (Pentagon) press briefing published on Thursday, January 11, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said, “As of Thursday, there were 53 attacks in Iraq and 77 in Syria.”

Ryder explained that the attacks usually involve a combination of suicide drones, rockets, mortars, and short-range ballistic missiles, noting that no new injuries have been reported.

The northeast of Syria regularly witnesses attacks on international coalition bases in Deir Ezzor and al-Hasakah with missiles or drones, most of which are claimed by Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the repeated American targeting of these militias is linked to the almost daily shelling of US bases in the two neighboring countries.

The US holds “Iranian proxies” responsible for the attacks on its bases in Syria and Iraq, stating that they are clearly trained and supplied with resources and equipment by Iranian forces.

Iran, for its part, denies responsibility for these attacks, stating that it has not participated in any act or attack against US military forces in Syria or elsewhere.

Renewed airstrikes

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is primarily responsible for targeting US bases, regularly announcing its responsibility for the shelling through its official identifier that appeared on the Telegram application at the beginning of the attacks themselves.

For over a month, the method of these attacks has been divided into two types, the first being carried out from within Iraqi territory, with the Islamic Resistance claiming responsibility for it, and the second being carried out in northeastern Syria from within the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the effective local ally of the US-led international coalition.

Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Deir Ezzor stated that the area of the US base in the Koniko gas field was shelled today, Friday, January 12, while the air defenses of the international coalition repelled it, and the area is currently witnessing low-altitude warplane flights.

The local Deir Ezzor 24 news network said that the ground defenses of the international coalition forces repelled rocket shells launched by Iranian militias stationed west of the Euphrates River and attempted to target the Koniko gas field east of Deir Ezzor.

On the other hand, the Al-Khabour network posted a video clip stating that it shows the fall of Iranian militia rockets on the house of a civilian in the town of al-Azba in the countryside of Deir Ezzor.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced on Thursday the targeting of the Al-Shaddadi US base in Syrian territory with a rocket barrage, justifying the attack as a continuation of the “resistance to the American occupation in Iraq and the region” in response to “the massacres of the Zionist entity against the people of Gaza.”

It also announced on January 10 the targeting of the Himo US base west of Qamishli Airport with the “right weapon.”