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Syria’s northeastern region has experienced a deadly confrontation between the United States-led coalition and forces backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The confrontation broke out on March 23, when a suicide drone struck the coalition’s RLZ base, which is located near the city of al-Hasakah. The attack claimed the life of a U.S. contractor and left five U.S. service members and a second U.S. contractor wounded. The Pentagon said the intelligence community had determined that the suicide drone used in the attack was of Iranian origin. The U.S. Central Command retaliated by launching a series of airstrikes against installations of Iranian-backed forces in Deir Ezzor governorate. The targets were reportedly located in Deir Ezzor city and near the towns of al-Mayadin and al-Bukamal in the southern countryside. Following the airstrikes, a salvo of rockets hit the coalition’s Green Village base, which is located within al-Omar oil fields in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, without causing any losses. The next day, March 24, the Iranian Advisory Committee in Syria, said in a statement that the U.S. airstrikes had killed seven of their fighters and wounded seven others, without specifying the fighters’ nationality. Hours after the release of the statement, Iranian-backed forces launched two simultaneous attacks against coalition bases in Deir Ezzor. One U.S. service member was injured in a rocket attack at the Conoco gas plant in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside. At about the same time, several suicide drones attacked the Green Village base. All but one of the drones were shot down and there were no casualties there. In his first comment on the confrontation, President Joe Biden vowed to respond to any attack on U.S. troops in Syria. However, he stated that his country is not looking for a conflict with Iran. In response, Keyvan Khosravi, a spokesperson for Iran’s top security body, warned on March 25 that any attack on Iranian-linked bases in Syria will be met with a swift response. On the same day, the Damascus government condemned the U.S. airstrikes and called on Washington to withdraw its troops from Syria. On March 26, a shadowy pro-Iran Iraqi armed group calling itself the Victorious Brigade claimed responsibility for the deadly drone attack on U.S. troops in Syria, confirming the Pentagon assessment. Footage released by the group revealed that a copy of the Iranian Ababil-2 suicide drone was used in the attack. The situation in northeastern Syria remains tense. The confrontation put some pressure on the U.S. However, it was not enough to force Washington to withdraw its estimated 900 troops from the oil-rich northeastern region and the southeastern area of al-Tanf.
