SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United States believes Iran was behind the drone attack last week at the military outpost in southern Syria where American troops are stationed, U.S. officials said on Monday.
The Associated Press cited the officials as saying that the U.S. believed Iran resourced and encouraged the attack.
They said the drones were not launched from Iran, but were Iranian drones, according to AP.
They added that they believe the attacks involved as many as five drones laden with explosive charges.
The drones hit both the U.S. side of al-Tanf garrison and the side where Syrian opposition, they continued.
There were no reported injuries or deaths as a result of the attack.
Pro-Iran media outlets have been saying the attacks on Tanf was carried out by “Syria’s allies” in retaliation for an attack days earlier near the historian Syrian town of Palmyra.
The garrison is located in a strategic area near Syria’s Tanf border crossing with Iraq and Jordan.
U.S. and Coalition troops are stationed at al-Tanf to train Syrian opposition forces on patrols to counter Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
It was first set up when ISIS fighters controlled eastern Syria bordering Iraq but since the militants were driven out, it is seen as part of the larger U.S. strategy to contain Iran’s military reach in the region.
Tanf is the only position with a significant U.S. military presence in Syria outside the Kurdish-controlled north.
While it is not common for attacks on the U.S. troops at the outpost, Iranian-backed forces have frequently attacked American troops with drones and rockets in eastern Syria and Iraq.
