DAMASCUS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran-backed militias launched three assaults on U.S. military bases in Syria on Monday, the latest in a series of escalated attacks carried out against the backdrop of the Israeli military assault in Gaza, a war monitor reported.
The militias launched two rockets from within Syrian territory on a U.S. base established inside the Conoco Gas Field in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Monday evening, with witnesses reporting two powerful explosions in the base area accompanied by billowing smoke rising from the site, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Britain-based watchdog group said the U.S. forces stationed in the area immediately went on high alert in response to the attack.
The attack follows strikes on the Al-Omar Oil Field Base in Deir al-Zour and the Kharab al-Jir base in the northeastern province of Al-Hasakah earlier in the day, the observatory noted. It said the base in Al-Omar Oil Field, the largest U.S. base in Syria, came under an attack with 24 rockets, calling it a major attack on the base.
According to the observatory, the latest assault on the Conoco base marks the 82nd attack on U.S. bases within Syrian territory by Iran-backed militias since Oct. 19, 2023, as a retaliation for the U.S. support to Israel in its military campaign in the Gaza Strip. ■
