Artillery shells originating from areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fell on positions occupied by regime forces and Iranian-backed militias west of the Euphrates River north of Deir Ezzor city.

A correspondent for Enab Baladi reported that artillery shelling struck three regime positions on the evening of Monday, October 14, in the towns of Khasham, Marat, and al-Tabiya east of Deir Ezzor, in addition to other sites occupied by Iranian-backed militias in the villages of Hatlah and Huwayja Sakr.

The North Press agency stated that artillery shelling and airstrikes carried out by the International Coalition east of Deir Ezzor resulted in casualties and injuries.

Coalition aircraft targeted locations of Iranian-affiliated factions and regime forces after its base at Koniko Field was subjected to rocket fire from areas west of the Euphrates, where the regime and Iranian-backed militias are in control.

The coalition reportedly targeted at least three regime sites and five sites of Iranian factions in the towns of Khasham, Marat, al-Tabiya, Harabash, and Huwayja Sakr in Deir Ezzor, according to North Press.

In turn, the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen channel reported that four civilians, including a woman, were injured due to US shelling originating from the Koniko Field base targeting the village of Marat in the Deir Ezzor countryside.

The Russian Sputnik agency mentioned that the US army stationed at the Koniko Field base indiscriminately shelled several villages and towns under regime control in response to an attack that the base itself suffered from a drone.

It added that the shelling resulted in injuries to four civilians.

The International Coalition and the United States have not reported any reciprocal shelling in Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, nor has Enab Baladi received a response from the US Central Command regarding the shelling at the time of publishing this news.

Resumption of targeting

Since last July, Iranian-backed militias have resumed targeting US bases in Iraq and northeast Syria after a hiatus of nearly five months.

Since late last year, Syria and Iraq have experienced a state of escalation, manifested by repeated shelling carried out by groups supported by Iran that call themselves the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”.

As months passed with ongoing targeting, the situation escalated following the deaths of three US soldiers in Jordan, at a military point known as “Tower 22,” near the Syrian border, with over 40 other US soldiers injured in an attack carried out by a drone, claimed by Iranian-backed factions in Iraq.

In response, the United States targeted a series of 85 sites in Syria and Iraq on January 28, last year, following the deaths of its soldiers in shelling that Iran was accused of being involved in, which led to a cessation of attacks on US bases.

The Pentagon press secretary, Pat Ryder, previously mentioned that if attacks or threats against US forces in Syria and Iraq resumed, the US would take appropriate measures to protect its troops, as it had done in the past.