A new missile strike targeted a U.S. base in northeast Syria Friday, a day after a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and another U.S. contractor wounded when a suspected Iranian drone hit a coalition base in the same region, according to U.S. officials. U.S. officials confirmed the new attack targeting an American base southeast of the Syrian province of Der el-Zour on Friday, saying there were "lots of rockets" fired, but no known U.S. casualties.
Reports surfaced earlier that the Friday missile salvo had targeted a U.S. base near the Al-Omar oil field in northeast Syria. The Reuters news agency and local media, including a pro-Iran outlet based in Lebanon, first reported the strike. Photos and reports on social media suggested at least one missile had missed the intended target, hitting homes in the region instead.
The attack came just hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that U.S. Central Command forces had retaliated for Thursday's deadly drone attack with "precision airstrikes" against facilities in eastern Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The Defense Department said the intelligence community had determined the unmanned aerial vehicle used in the Thursday attack was of Iranian origin.
Two of the wounded U.S. service members were treated on site, while three others and the injured contractor were transported to medical facilities in Iraq, the Pentagon said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the American strikes killed six Iranian-backed fighters at an arms depot in Deir el-Zour on Thursday. The Observatory, which relies on a network of local contacts in Syria, said the U.S. also bombed an outpost near the town of Mayadeen, killing another two fighters.
A separate American strike hit a military post near the town of Boukamal, along the border with Iraq, on Thursday the Observatory said. CBS News has not confirmed the report.
"The airstrikes were conducted in response to today's attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria" by groups affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Austin said, adding that he authorized the retaliatory strikes at the direction of President Biden.
"As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing," Austin said. "No group will strike our troops with impunity."
"The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties," Austin said. U.S. Army Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the head of the American military's Central Command, warned that American forces could carry out additional strikes if needed. "We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks," Kurilla said in a statement.