By Daniel DePetris
U.S. troops are currently stationed at three locations in Syria. The first two, the so-called Green Village and Mission Support Group Conoco, are located in Deir ez Zor province, just east of the Euphrates River. The third site, the small al Tanf garrison, is approximately 300 miles to the south, straddling the Iraq-Syria-Jordan tri-border area. Some 1,000 U.S. personnel operate in Syria, about 3 1/2 years after the Islamic State’s territorial caliphate lost its last chunk of land.
Normally, the U.S. deployment doesn’t get much attention. But it did last week when several drone and rocket attacks by Shia militias targeted U.S. forces at two sites, prompting a series of U.S. strikes in response. On Tuesday, the U.S. retaliated against militia bunkers for an Aug. 15 drone attack against U.S. personnel, which fortunately didn’t result in any casualties. But U.S. forces were harassed the very next day at the Conoco site in northeast Syria, causing yet another series of strikes on the same day. This time, at least four militia fighters were killed in addition to the rocket launchers used in the attack.
According to U.S. officials, the purpose of the strikes was twofold: 1.) to destroy the infrastructure used by these militias in order to degrade their capability and 2.) to deter similar rocket and drone attacks from occurring in the future.
This piece was originally published in The Washington Examiner on August 28, 2022. Read more HERE.