Iran-backed militias said to fire mortars at US base in Syria

Pro-Iranian militias fire several shells at a US base in eastern Syria’s Al-Omar oil field on Monday night, causing damage but no casualties, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

The development comes after the US launched airstrikes the previous night against three targets it said were used by pro-Iran groups in eastern Syria and western Iraq.

In retaliation for the shelling, “heavy artillery has been fired by the (US-led) international coalition” on the town of Al-Mayadeen, controlled by Iranian militias, says the observatory, a UK-based pro-Syrian opposition organization of uncertain funding which has had its credibility questioned in the past.

Syrian state news agency SANA meanwhile says that “missiles… targeted a military base of the US occupation forces in the Al-Omar oil field,” without citing who was responsible.