Rocket Attack Targets US Base at Conoco Gas Field in Syria

The US military says there were no casualties

A base in Syria housing US troops was targeted in a rocket attack on Monday, The Associated Press reported.

The US military said there were no casualties or damage in the attack, which targeted Mission Support Site Conoco, a US base located on the Conoco gas fields in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province. As part of its occupation of Syria, the US controls much of the country’s oil and gas resources.

US bases in Syria frequently come under attack, and the continued occupation always risks sparking a wider war. While the US says troops are in Syria to fight ISIS, the military typically blames Iran and its allies for the attacks but never provides evidence for the claims.

At the end of March, a drone attack in Syria killed one US contractor, leading to US airstrikes against targets the Pentagon said were linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a claim Tehran denied. The Pentagon said the strikes killed eight militants.

After the escalation, the White House said it had no plans to withdraw from Syria despite the risks involved. The US currently has about 900 troops deployed in the country and backs the Kurdish-led SDF in the region. On top of the occupation, the US maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria to prevent the country’s reconstruction.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.