DUBAI, February 5. /TASS/. A military base controlled by the US armed forces, located near the El Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor Province in eastern Syria, was attacked by Kurdish forces, some of whose fighters were killed, Sky News Arabia reports.

According to the news outlet, at least five fighters of the Kurdish Forces of Democratic Syria (SDF) were killed in the attack. It is claimed that "Iraqi formations" were behind the attack, but no specific information about the circumstances of the incident were provided.

Since the beginning of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip in October of last year, attacks using missiles and drones on American military bases in Iraq and Syria have become more frequent. Shiite formations have warned that they will increase the number of armed operations within the two countries, as the United States continues to provide military assistance to the Israeli army. On February 1, Al Mayadeen television, citing an American military source, reported that since October 17, 2023, 98 attacks have been carried out on military personnel of the US armed forces and the Washington-led international anti-terrorist coalition in Syria.

Most of the Syrian provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hasakah, located in the east and northeast of the country, are currently controlled by the Kurdish SDF, which is supported by the United States. Since 2015, the American command has established nine military bases in the area. At the end of 2019, then-US President Donald Trump approved a plan according to which several hundred American troops would remain in Syria. One of their main missions is to ensure control over oil fields in the northeast and east of the country. Damascus considers the US military presence on Syrian territory as an illegal occupation.