22 US soldiers injured in helicopter 'incident' in Syria

The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said 10 service members had been evacuated to higher-level care facilities outside the region. CENTCOM, which oversees US troops in the Middle East, said there were no reports of enemy fire but added that the cause of the incident was under investigation.

Officers at CENTCOM did not respond to requests for further information. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which control parts of northeastern Syria, the Kurdish autonomous administration that governs the area, and the Syrian government also did not respond to requests for comment.

Soldiers during a drill from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter in the US

Earlier in March, 25 US troops were wounded in attacks and counterattacks in Syria. In recent years, US troops in Syria have had to deal with many attacks from Iranian-backed militias, according to Reuters.

There are about 900 US troops deployed to Syria, most of them in the east, as part of a mission to fight the remnants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). This deployment is not accepted by the legitimate Syrian government.

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Although IS was defeated in 2019 and is now a shadow of the powerful organization that once controlled a third of Syria and Iraq, hundreds of IS members still operate in desolate areas, where there is no control from the US-led coalition or the Syrian army, with support from Russia and Iranian-backed militias.

Thousands of other IS members are being held in SDF-protected facilities. US officials say IS could still reemerge as a major threat, according to Reuters.

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