BEIRUT (AP) – The US military confirmed on Tuesday that 22 US soldiers were injured in a helicopter crash in northeastern Syria over the weekend. The cause of the crash is currently under investigation, and according to the military, there is no indication that enemy fire was involved.
A statement from the army revealed that while the injured soldiers were receiving medical treatment, 10 of them had been transferred to “high-care facilities” outside the area.
“A helicopter crash in northeastern Syria resulted in 22 U.S. service members being reported with varying degrees of injuries,” the statement said.
U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, a key partner in the fight against the extremist Islamic State group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
There are currently an estimated 900 US forces in Syria, along with an unknown number of contractors. Additionally, U.S. special operations forces regularly move in and out of the country in small teams, but they are not included in official troop numbers.
US forces have been deployed in Syria since 2015 to guide and support the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their fight against the Islamic State. After the group’s defeat in Syria in March 2019, U.S. troops are aiming to prevent a resurgence of the extremist group, which once controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Nevertheless, dormant cells associated with the Islamic State remain a constant threat. Additionally, approximately 10,000 IS fighters and thousands of their family members are living in detention centers and refugee camps in northeastern Syria.
In recent years, U.S. troops in Syria have faced attacks by members of the Islamic State as well as Iran-backed fighters. In late March, a drone attack on a US base killed a contractor and injured five US soldiers and another contractor. In response, US warplanes launched airstrikes on several locations in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, bordering Iraq.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time that the strikes were in retaliation for drone strikes and previous attacks on US-led coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
In a related development, Syrian Kurdish-led authorities announced on Saturday that hundreds of Islamic State fighters jailed across the region would be prosecuted after their home countries refused to extradite them.
