Pentagon says US forces in eastern Syria struck rocket launchers, tank posing ‘imminent threat’

US forces conducted a self-defense strike today in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Euphrates, a US base in eastern Syria, against three truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers, a T-64 tank and mortars that Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder says presented “a clear and imminent threat” to US troops.

The strike occurred after rockets and mortars were fired and landed in the vicinity of the base, Ryder says. The Pentagon is still assessing who was responsible for the attacks — there are both Iranian-backed militias and Syrian military forces that operate in the area.

Ryder says the attack is not connected to the offensive that is ongoing in Aleppo, where Syrian jihadi-led rebels have advanced and taken over the city.

The US has about 900 troops in Syria to conduct missions to counter the Islamic State group.