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Drone Attack Hits Al-Tanf Base in Syria

Medical facility destroyed by a drone attack on Al-Tanf base (Free Syrian Army)
Medical facility destroyed by a drone attack on Al-Tanf base (Free Syrian Army)
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Drone Attack Hits Al-Tanf Base in Syria

Medical facility destroyed by a drone attack on Al-Tanf base (Free Syrian Army)
Medical facility destroyed by a drone attack on Al-Tanf base (Free Syrian Army)

Three one-way attack drones targeted the Al-Tanf military base in southeastern Syria on Friday, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

CENTCOM issued a statement noting that two of the drones were shot down by Coalition Forces while one struck the compound, injuring two members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) who received medical treatment. No US forces were injured.

Members of the FSA deployed at the base said two of the drones were shot down by the coalition while a third exploded without causing any injuries or damages.

A spokesman for the faction asserted that the attack would not deter the ongoing operations with the coalition in their fight against ISIS.

The FSA faction disseminated several photos of the damage to a medical facility in Al-Tanf due to the drone attack.

The US forces did not accuse any party of the attack.

“Attacks of this kind are unacceptable – they place our troops and our partners at risk and jeopardize the fight against ISIS,” said Joe Buccino, CENTCOM spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) suggested that the drones belonged to pro-Iranian groups, explaining that the Free Syrian Army is a US-backed opposition faction active in Al-Tanf area.

The coalition forces have previously thwarted similar attacks, including with drones, the most recent of which was last August on the Al-Tanf base, established in 2016. The headquarters is located near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders and is strategically important as it is situated on the Baghdad-Damascus road.

The international coalition forces against ISIS are deployed in several bases controlled by the Kurdish fighters in north and northeastern Syria.

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Iraq PM Says He Will Sign Security Deal with Britain

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends an event marking the Iraqi Police Day at the Police Faculty in Baghdad, Iraq, January 9, 2024. (Anadolu Agency/Pool via Reuters /File Photo)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends an event marking the Iraqi Police Day at the Police Faculty in Baghdad, Iraq, January 9, 2024. (Anadolu Agency/Pool via Reuters /File Photo)
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Iraq PM Says He Will Sign Security Deal with Britain

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends an event marking the Iraqi Police Day at the Police Faculty in Baghdad, Iraq, January 9, 2024. (Anadolu Agency/Pool via Reuters /File Photo)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends an event marking the Iraqi Police Day at the Police Faculty in Baghdad, Iraq, January 9, 2024. (Anadolu Agency/Pool via Reuters /File Photo)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Monday he would sign a bilateral security deal with Britain as well as a strategic partnership accord as he headed to London for an official visit against a backdrop of historic shifts in the Middle East.

Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone once again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran's allies Hamas degraded in Gaza, Hezbollah battered in Lebanon and Bashar al-Assad ousted in Syria.

A rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, Iraq's balancing act has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on US troops in the country in the aftermath of the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

That has led to several rounds of tit-for-tat strikes that have since been contained, but some Iraqi officials fear an escalation after US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

"It is definitely an important timing, both as it concerns the path of Iraq's relations with the UK and as a result of the development of the (regional) situation, which requires more consultations," Sudani told Reuters on Monday while en route from Baghdad to London.

Sudani said the security deal between the UK and Iraq would develop bilateral military ties after last year's announcement that the US-led coalition set up to fight ISIS would end its work in Iraq in 2026.

The UK, Iraq’s former colonial ruler, is a key member of the coalition.

ISIS was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019 though concerns remain high that it may reconstitute in remote areas of Iraq and exploit a power vacuum in Syria after Assad's ouster by opposition factions last year.

Regarding the strategic partnership agreement, Sudani said: "This is one of the key moments in relations between Iraq and the UK. I can describe it as the beginning of a new era in ties." He did not elaborate.

The visit will also see the signing of major agreements with British companies, he said.

"This is not a protocol trip," he added.

Iraq previously signed a strategic partnership deal with the US that aimed to expand relations beyond the military ties established after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which the UK also joined.

Violence has subsided in recent years and much of the country is enjoying relative stability, though the economy remains highly dependent on public-sector wages financed almost entirely by oil, leading to periodic crises when prices fall.

Sudani has tried to focus on rebuilding Iraq's war-damaged infrastructure and expanding ties with Western and Arab states while balancing relations with neighboring Iran, which backs an array of Iraqi armed groups but also provides crucial power and gas.

Mohammed Najjar, investment advisor to the prime minister, told Reuters that Iraq saw forging deals with Western and Arab states as a key way to prevent conflict.

“We are placing economy at the core of our national security policy,” he said, noting the purposefully business-heavy agenda of the visit despite tumult in the Middle East.