Another bomb attack targets U.S. troops in Syria
Beirut -- An explosion has gone off in Syria's northeastern province of Hassakeh, inflicting casualties among America's Kurdish partners. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights first reported that the blast targeted a convoy of the U.S.-led coalition and U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters. The Observatory said three people were injured, but the U.S. military said there were no American casualties.
While no U.S. forces appear to have been seriously injured in Monday's attack, it was the second bombing aimed at a convoy including U.S. forces in Syria in less than a week.
The U.S.-led coalition confirmed the attack in a tweet, noting that a "combined U.S. and Syrian partner force convoy was involved in an apparent VBIED (vehicle borne improvised explosive device) attack today in Syria" on Monday.
We can confirm a combined U.S. and Syrian partner force convoy was involved in an apparent VBIED attack today in Syria. There were no U.S. casualties. We will continue to review the situation and provide updates as appropriate.
— OIR Spokesperson (@OIRSpox) January 21, 2019
The Kurdish-led administration in the region around Hassakeh said in statement that the attack on Monday used a vehicle bomb that was "detonated by a terrorist driver who tried to target a convoy of the coalition forces that happened to be driving through the checkpoint at this moment."
ISIS issued a brief statement via its online propaganda arm, the Amaq "news" agency, claiming responsibility for Monday's attack.
Last Wednesday, an ISIS bomber blew himself up at a restaurant in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, killing four Americans who had stopped there while on patrol. The attack renewed criticism of President Donald Trump's claim that ISIS is defeated in Syria, on which he has said he based his decision to pull the remaining 2,000 American forces out of the country.
The state news agency SANA and the Kurdish Hawar news agency, based in northern Syria, said Monday's blast was a suicide bombing that targeted a Syrian Kurdish checkpoint near the town of Shaddadeh.
The Manbij suicide attack last week left a total of 16 people dead, including two U.S. troops and two American civilians.
The Monday explosion struck at a checkpoint near the town of Shaddadi. Video taken by Kurdish fighters and media outlets showed a straight, dusty road with military vehicles in the distance. There were no reports of American helicopters landing in the vicinity immediately after the blast, as happened quickly following the Manbij attack as the U.S. military quickly arrived to fly the American casualties out.
As CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata witnessed first-hand in Syria last week, ISIS may be evolving into a more traditional insurgency, but it is by no means beaten in Syria yet.
The Manbij suicide attack last week left a total of 16 people dead, including two U.S. troops and two American civilians.
The Monday explosion struck at a checkpoint near the town of Shaddadi. Video taken by Kurdish fighters and media outlets showed a straight, dusty road with military vehicles in the distance.
There were no reports of American helicopters landing in the vicinity immediately after the blast, as happened quickly following the Manbij attack as the U.S. military quickly arrived to fly the American casualties out.