Three US Troops Wounded in Rocket Attack on Occupied Bases in Eastern Syria

Several rockets targeted bases that are run by US occupation force at the al-Omar and Koniko oilfields in the countryside of the city of Deir Ez-Zur, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

According to Reuters, which cited the US military, "one US military service member suffered a minor injury and two others are being evaluated for minor injuries following rocket attacks."

SANA added that a smoke plume could be seen rising from the scene. The civilian sources reported that American aircraft had begun staging extensive flights over the area and that the occupying American forces had "closed the area."

After an airstrike by American warplanes in Deir Ez-Zur in the early morning hours, rocket attacks were launched.

Meanwhile, another report by the Syrian media indicated that the US bases at the Koniko oilfield in the countryside of Deir Ez-Zur was subjected to a missile attack for the second time within hours.

Local sources in the area told SANA that the base at the Koniko oilfield in the eastern countryside of the province was targeted with bursts of rocket shells. No causalities were reported.

The sources added that the US forces closed the area immediately, while the US airplanes were hovering in the airspace of the area.

American warplanes conducted an airstrike in Deir Ez-Zur, only a few days after the US military used dozens of tanker trucks to smuggle crude oil from the neighboring province of Hasakah to bases in Iraq.

The US military's Central Command, which oversees the American forces in the West Asia region, said in a statement that the aerial assault had been aimed at "protecting US forces from attacks." It said the strike had targeted military infrastructure facilities run by Syrian government forces and their allies.

Reporting earlier in the day, The Washington Post cited the US military as claiming that it had "targeted infrastructure used by groups with ties to Iran’s" Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani dismissed the claim, describing the strike as a "terrorist" act against the people of Syria and the popular anti-terror groups in the country, and denying any link between the groups and the Islamic Republic.

The US military said the airstrike was in response to an August 15 attack, when armed drones hit the vicinity of the al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria near the borders with Jordan and Iraq, where US-led occupation forces were deployed in large numbers.

The Pentagon claims that the American forces' deployment to the area is aimed at preventing the oilfields from falling into the hands of the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists.

Damascus, however, maintains that the deployment is meant to plunder the country's rich mineral resources.