A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster departs from a Coalition airfield in Northeast Syria, June 26, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by SrA Izabella Sullivan)
Late on October 8, an indirect fire attack targeted a key base of the U.S.-led coalition in Syria’s northeastern region without causing any losses.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that the Rumalyn Landing Zone was hit by a salvo of 107 mm rocket.
The coalition’s so-called landing zone consists of a base and an airfield located near the village of Abu Hajar, some 12 kilometers to the south of the town of Rumalyan in the northern al-Hasakah countryside. Some of Syria’s richest oil fields are located in this area.
“The rocket did not impact inside the compound. No U.S. or partnered forces were killed or injured and neither facilities nor equipment were damaged,” the command’s statement reads.
According to the CENTCOM, additional rockets were found at the launch origin site. An investigation into the attack has been launched.
This was the second confirmed attack on a U.S. base in Syria’s northeastern region in less than a month. On September 18, a number of rockets targeted the coalition’s Green Village base in the al-Omar oil fields in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. No casualties or material losses were reported back then. The attack was unofficially blamed on Iranian-backed Syrian and Iraqi forces.
Iranian-backed forces may have been also behind the attack on the Rumaylan Landing Zone. The attack came just four days after the U.S.-led coalition conducted a raid in the government-held village of Muluk Saray in the northern al-Hasakah countryside. During the raid, U.S. forces killed a shepherd, who allegedly smuggled weapons for ISIS, and captured the leader of a local pro-government armed group.
