An unknown number of U.S. service members were wounded in two separate missile attacks on U.S. military bases in Syria, a U.S. government official said Wednesday.
It’s not clear exactly how many American soldiers were injured, although a government official, Central Command communications director Col. Joe Buccino, said all injuries were “minor.”
The US responded to the missile attacks with a series of strikes from attack helicopters that reportedly killed several people, including those responsible for the attacks.
NBC News reported that the attacks on the US military base located in northeastern Syria in Conoco and Green Village began around 7:20 a.m. local time. President Joe Biden ordered the US response.
The US and its enemies in Syria have traded attacks for the better part of two weeks. On Tuesday, the US launched a separate series of attacks on infrastructure it said was being used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria in retaliation for an Aug. 15 attack on a military installation.
While Mr. Biden pulled American troops out of Afghanistan last year, the United States still maintains a presence in Syria that includes roughly 900 troops to support the Syrian Democratic Forces in their fight against Islamic State and its allies.