Biggest illegal U.S. military base in Syria comes under intense rocket attack

Damascus, September 19 (RHC)-- The U.S.'s biggest illegal military base in Syria has come under rocket attack, hours after another installation housing American forces was similarly targeted with projectiles.

Syria's al-Watan daily reported the attack on Sunday, identifying the target as the U.S.'s outpost in the al-Omar Oilfield in the eastern Syrian Province of Dayr al-Zawr.  The paper said the incident saw multiple rockets being fired against the facility.

Columns of smoke and fire began to billow from the base following the attack, the daily said, adding that American copters were seen loitering over the outpost in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

Reporting from the area, a correspondent with the Russian Sputnik news agency's Arabic service described the rocket fire as "the most intense" attack to ever target the facility.

The rockets struck sensitive spots across the outpost, the reporter said, noting that several massive explosions had rung out throughout the installation during the incident.  

The U.S. forces have been actively involved in Syria under the guise of fighting the Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh.  Washington has extended the troops' presence in Syria since 2017, although, the Arab country and its allies defeated the terror outfit that year.

Numerous reports and regional officials have, meanwhile, pointed to the US’s role in transferring Daesh's elements throughout the region and even airlifting supplies to the group.

The U.S. military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh's remnants.

Damascus, however, maintains that the deployment is aimed at plundering the country's rich oil and mineral resources, and says it reserves the right to expel the American troops through appropriate means.

Earlier in the day, rockets were fired against a military facility housing US occupation forces in the Hasakah Province, which neighbors Dayr al-Zawr, Sabereen News, a Telegram news channel associated with Iraqi anti-terror forces, reported.

The rockets were fired from a nearby area, the channel said, specifying the target as an outpost located in the al-Shaddadi town, which lies on the southern outskirts of Hasakah's provincial capital city.