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Turkey’s airstrikes against north and east Syria have continued unabated since 19 November. As this goes on, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday that rocket attacks had targeted Global Coalition* forces at a US patrol base in Syria.
According to CENTCOM’s statement, two rockets hit coalition forces in Syria’s al-Shaddadi region at 10:31pm on Friday.
CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino said: “Attacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian populace at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region.”
No casualties or damage to coalition property took place as a result of the attacks. During their investigation of the area where the attack took place the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) found a third unfired rocket.
Meanwhile, the US senior representative to northeastern Syria Nikolas Granger called on Friday for “immediate de-escalation”, saying that Washington strongly opposes Turkey’s bombings of North and East Syria, which are destabilising the region and undermining the fight against ISIS.
Granger, currently in Syria, said the developments were “unacceptably dangerous” and expressed concern. He added that the airstrikes also endangered US military personnel in the region.
The US Department of State, the Pentagon and the Global Coalition have been warning since 20 November that recent airstrikes threaten to undermine years of progress in the war against ISIS.
On 22 November, ISIS mercenaries escaped from the al-Hol internment camp in North and East Syria as a result of Turkish attacks on the region.
*The Global Coalition against ISIS was formed with 85 member states in September 2014 to degrade and ultimately defeat Da’esh.
