Three U.S. service members are undergoing tests for potential traumatic brain injury after a strike earlier this week on an American base in Syria.
In a briefing Thursday, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the attack occurred near Military Support Site Euphrates, which sits on the east side of the strategically important river in eastern Syria.
U.S. Central Command struck the attacking forces Tuesday, which included three truck-mounted rocket launchers, a tank and mortars. Ryder didn’t say where the three injured U.S. personnel were when attacked or what specific group began the fire.
The strike has become a subject of confusion as Syria’s military bleeds territory to rebels, who belong to a group that was once affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the U.S. still considers a terrorist affiliate. The Syrian government is reeling this week after losing control of Hama, one of the country’s largest cities and one that sits farther west.
A mix of Iranian-backed rebel groups, Syrian military forces, Kurdish and tribal militias and the U.S. military straddle the Euphrates River. Especially troublesome for the U.S. and its partners are a set of enemy villages controlled that sit on the same side as American forces — an uncomfortable proximity that has led to conflict before.
Ryder didn’t specify whether the initial attack came in response to the U.S. supporting a partnered operation in this area, instead arguing that the subsequent strikes were in “self-defense.”
Videos of A-10 Warthogs flying over eastern Syria added to the uncertainty when they began circulating on social media earlier this week as well. Ryder said one of these planes engaged a separate target in self-defense and continued to say the U.S. is not assisting the Syrian rebels in their flash offensive.
America has around 900 personnel in the country that help lead an international group of countries fighting ISIS. U.S. bases there and across the Middle East have come under increasing fire since Israel’s war began in Gaza last fall. Between Oct. 18, 2023, and Nov. 21, 2024, there were 206 such attacks on U.S. forces in the region, including 125 in Syria alone, according to the Pentagon.
Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.
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