A number of US officials received minor injuries from a one-way drone attack in Syria Friday, and some have been transported for further evaluation, the Pentagon said Monday.
“Several US and coalition personnel were treated for minor injuries, including smoke inhalation. Others are being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries out of an abundance of caution,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Monday.
The Pentagon did not say how many personnel were injured or transported on the issue.
The drone took aim Rumalyn landing zone in Syriawhich hosts US and partner forces that are part of the global coalition to defeat ISIS. US Central Command is still assessing the damage, but initial assessments show there was minor damage to a set of facilities, Ryder said Monday.
The attack was the second in a week to injure US personnel who are part of the coalition to defeat ISIS.
A few days earlier, a rocket attack on al-Assad air base in Iraq injured four American servicemen and one American contractor. According to a defense official, three of the five were evacuated to a hospital in Germany with non-life-threatening injuries for further evaluation.
The Pentagon has not identified the perpetrators of the two attacks, but previous attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria have been carried out by Iran-backed militia groups. The number of attacks increased afterwards Oct. 7when the war between Israel and Hamas broke out.
Since October, US forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan have been attacked over 180 times, according to Pentagonbut it has been relatively quiet since February until the last few weeks.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the trip earlier this month said: “I don’t see a return to where we were several months ago – not yet. And certainly we will keep an eye on this. The safety and security of our troops is really, really important to me .”
There are roughly 900 US troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq.