Iraqi Shia militia claims 2 attacks on US base in Syria

Baghdad, Nov 9

An Iraqi Shia militia has claimed responsibility for rocket and drone attacks on a US military base in northeastern Syria.

An armed group calling itself the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq," which is an umbrella body for Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, claimed in two separate online statements that its fighters had launched booby-trapped drones and rockets toward a US base in al-Shaddadi in northeastern Syria and the drones and rockets had hit their targets, without giving further details.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, confirmed on Wednesday that the al-Shaddadi base was attacked twice and US anti-aircraft weapons shot down two drones in one of the attacks, Xinhua news agency reported.

While casualties have not yet been reported, the attacks are believed to be part of a series of retaliatory measures against the US forces amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, said the observatory.

The incident marks the 26th recorded attack on US bases in Syria since October 19, it added.