A U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one other U.S. contractor were wounded in a drone strike in Syria.
The U.S. military conducted retaliatory airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday against Iranian-backed groups after a deadly drone strike targeting a U.S. base in the region killed a U.S. contractor and injured six others, including five U.S. military service members, the Pentagon said.
“Earlier today, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while the other four Americans were medically evacuated to Coalition medical facilities in Iraq, officials said.
U.S. intelligence assessed that the one-way attack drone that struck the base was Iranian in origin, according to the statement.
“At the direction of President [ Joe ] Biden, I authorized U.
