Iran-backed groups said to target US bases with drones in Syria

Syrian opposition activists say a drone attack has been conducted on an oil facility in eastern Syria housing American troops and a US base in a nearby area.

There was no immediate word on casualties and the US military didn’t immediately respond to requests for confirmation.

Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, says that three drones with explosives struck the Conoco gas field in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, confirms that five explosions were heard at the Conoco gas field.

The  Observatory also reported that three drones attacked the US base of Tanf in eastern Syria near where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq meet. It said two drones were shot down before reaching their targets while the third hit the base, causing some material damage.

The Observatory and Abu Layla say the attack appears to be the work of Iran-based fighters who are deployed in eastern Syria and western Iraq.