The U.S. military has shot down an unmanned aircraft near a base in southern Syria earlier this week, officials told Reuters on Thursday.
The base is located in a strategic area near Syria’s Tanf border crossing with Iraq and Jordan and houses a small number of US troops.
Tanf is the only post with a significant US military presence in Syria outside of Kurdish-controlled north.
U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, said two drones entered the Tanf “decongestion zone” on Tuesday and one of them crashed as it approached the base.
There were no casualties or damage to facilities, he added.
The news of the shooting was first broadcast by NBC News.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the drone, but Iranian-backed forces have frequently attacked US troops with drones and rockets in eastern Syria and Iraq.
There is concern among US officials that Iranian-backed militias may step up attacks on troops in Iraq and Syria in the coming weeks, in part because of the anniversary of the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani and Iraqi al-Muhaddis.
Both were killed by a US drone strike in Iraq on January 2, 2020.
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Source From: Capital
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