US troops injured in Syria drone attack last week, confirms Pentagon

Eight US service personnel were injured in a drone attack on a base in Syria last week, the Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday. This was the Defence Department’s first report of specific casualty figures in the incident.

Reuters first reported that several US and coalition personnel were wounded in a drone attack on Friday at Rumalyn Landing Zone, which hosts troops from the US and other countries in the US-led coalition.

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters on Tuesday that three personnel had already returned to duty. The eight troops were treated for traumatic brain injury and smoke inhalation.

The US says that its 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighbouring Iraq are advising and assisting local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Daesh/Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later pushed back.

Ryder added that the US believed that Friday’s attack was carried out by Iran-backed forces but the Pentagon was working to determine which one.

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