US-led coalition fires back after attack by suspected Iranian-backed militias in Syria

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US-led coalition fires back after attack by suspected Iranian-backed militias in Syria

CNN- Updated 12:28 PM ET, Wed January 5, 2022

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent

(CNN)US-led coalition forces fired back after they were attacked Wednesday morning by suspected Iranian-backed militias who fired eight rounds of indirect fire at their base in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border, though there were no coalition casualties, according to a statement from the coalition.

While the attack at the Green Village base did not result in any deaths, several rounds of fire landed on the base and caused minor damage, the statement said.

The coalition “responded swiftly and fired six rounds of artillery towards the point of origin of the attack just outside Mayadin, Syria,” according to the statement.

“The Coalition reserves the right to defend itself and partner forces against any threat, and will continue to do everything within its power to protect those forces,” coalition commander Maj. Gen. John W. Brennan, Jr., said in the statement.

He continued: “Our Coalition continues to see threats against our forces in Iraq and Syria by militia groups that are backed by Iran. These attacks are a dangerous distraction from our Coalition’s shared mission to advise, assist, and enable partner forces to maintain the enduring defeat of” ISIS.

Wednesday’s attack comes a day after the US military conducted strikes in Syria after indirect fire posed what a US-led coalition official called “an imminent threat” to troops near Green Village.