Global Courant
Twenty-two US servicemen were injured in a helicopter “accident” in northeastern Syria on Sunday, the US military said late Monday, without disclosing the cause of the incident or the severity of the injuries.
The US Army Central Command said 10 military personnel have been evacuated to higher care facilities outside the region.
Central Command, which monitors US forces in the Middle East, said no enemy fire had been reported but added that the cause of the incident is under investigation.
US Central Command officials did not immediately respond to requests for more information.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control parts of northeastern Syria, have referred questions to the US-led coalition under which US troops are deployed in the zone.
The autonomous Kurdish government governing the area and the central Syrian government in Damascus did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
About 900 US personnel have been deployed to Syria, mostly in the east, as part of a mission fighting the remnants of Islamic State. US troops there have been repeatedly attacked by Iranian-backed militias in recent years.
In March, 25 US troops were wounded strikes and counterattacks in Syriawhich also killed an American contractor and injured another.
US troops were first deployed to Syria during the Obama administration’s campaign against Islamic State, working with a Kurdish-led group called the Syrian Democratic Forces.
While Islamic State is now a shadow of the group that ruled a third of Syria and Iraq in a caliphate proclaimed in 2014, hundreds of fighters are still camped out in deserted areas where neither the US-led coalition nor the Syrian military, with support, of Russia and Iranian-backed militias exercise complete control.
Thousands of other Islamic State fighters are in detention centers guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, America’s main ally in the country.
US officials say Islamic State could still grow into a major threat.
The threats from Iranian-backed militias to US forces are a reminder of Syria’s complex geopolitics, where Syrian President Bashar al-Assad counts on support from Iran and Russia and sees US troops as occupiers.
