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An American military base at Al Tanf in southern Syria came under drone attack on the morning January 20, with the strike causing two casualties among militia forces being trained by the U.S. Military. The U.S. Central Command reported regarding the strike: “Two of the drones were shot down by Coalition Forces while one struck the compound, injuring two members of the Syrian Free Army partner force who received medical treatment. No U.S. forces were injured.” It described the strikes as “unacceptable” and having “place[d] our troops and our partners at risk.” An estimated 1000 U.S. personnel are deployed to the facility, which has been reinforced over several years with M2 Bradley armoured fighting vehicles and M1 Abrams tanks. The American presence was established without the permission of the Syrian government or UN authorisation, leading it to widely be condemned as illegal. Although small, prior threats to the U.S. contingent in Syria have been met with overwhelming responses from American air assets deployed across the Middle East which has allowed Washington to control the strategically critical oil rich region of southern Syria without a large personnel commitment on the ground.
The facility at Al Tanf has played a key role in allowing U.S. forces to appropriate an estimated 80 percent of Syria’s oil reserves, which have been exported through Iraq where the U.S. remains a larger military presence. The funds have reportedly been used to finance American military activities in the region and support local anti government militia groups. The appropriation of Syrian oil by U.S. forces has been a leading cause of difficulties in Syria’s post war recovery and the energy crisis that the country faces, with Syria having been near self sufficient in oil before the U.S. presence was imposed. While the perpetrator of the drone strike remains uncertain, Syrian government aligned forces are primary suspects including multiple Iranian-backed militia groups. Such clashes are far from unprecedented, and could well increase as the beginnings of rapprochement between Syria and Turkey may take pressure off Damascus to counter security threats on its western borders.
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