Beirut- A Daesh suicide bomber targeted a joint convoy of US and allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria on Monday, marking the second attack against US troops in less than a week and further highlighting the dangers surrounding US plans to withdraw forces after a declaration that the extremist group had been defeated.
US military Col. Sean Ryan said there were no casualties among the US-led coalition members. He added: “We can confirm a combined US and Syrian partner force convoy was involved” in the suicide bomb attack.
“We will continue to review the situation and provide updates as appropriate,” he added.
Monday’s bombing came days after a suicide attack killed 19 people, including two US service members and two American civilians, in the northern Syrian town of Manbij. That bombing was the deadliest assault on US troops in Syria since American forces moved into the country in 2015 and underscored the threat still posed by Daesh militants, even as President Donald Trump has claimed the group’s defeat.
The extremist group claimed both attacks in statements carried by its Aamaq news agency. Daesh has been driven from virtually all the territory it once held in Syria and Iraq but continues to carry out attacks in both countries.
The Kurdish Hawar news agency, based in northern Syria, said Monday’s blast targeted a Syrian Kurdish checkpoint as a coalition convoy was passing near the town of Shaddadeh. It said two Kurdish fighters were lightly wounded in the blast. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast killed five people and wounded others.