Drone attack
Drone attackiStock

Air defense systems operated by US-led coalition troops based in eastern Syria halted six drone attacks targeting their base at the Conoco oil field on Saturday, a security source said, according to Reuters.

The source did not indicate if there were casualties.

Coalition troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have faced increased attacks by Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq since Hamas’ attack against Israel on October 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza.

In late January, a drone attack by Iran-backed groups on a border outpost in Jordan killed three US soldiers.

The US retaliated by hitting 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria last weekend.

On Wednesday, a US military strike killed a commander of the Kataib Hezbollah militia in Iraq.

A senior administration official later said that the strike does not mark the end of a series of retaliatory actions that President Joe Biden authorized in response to the deaths of the three US soldiers in Jordan.