On March 25, the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper carried the following report: “Not a long time had passed since the US announcement on Russian jets having violated the air space over the Al-Tanf base, more than twenty times, thus violating an unannounced agreement between the two countries in Syria, when the International Alliance’s base in Khrab al-Jir in the northeastern suburbs of Al-Hasakah, came under a rocket attack that resulted in dead American victims for the first time since the “popular resistance” started to target the illegal American bases in the country in June 2021…

“The above indicates that there is an unannounced Russian-Iranian coordination with the aim of escalating the situation against the American presence in Syria, with the aim of pressuring the United States into deciding to pull out from the bases in the northern and eastern parts of the country. Clearly as well, the Russian side is focusing on monitoring the Americans’ actions in Al-Tanf, in the south, while the Iranian side is in charge of monitoring and targeting the American bases in the two governorates of Al-Hasakah and Der az-Zor, in the northeastern part.

“In this framework, local sources told Al-Akhbar that “a drone belonging to the Syrian Popular Resistance, which is supported by Iran, succeeded in infiltrating the special surveillance system that the US has deployed in all its bases in Syria, and fired several rockets into a dormitory, which led to physical and human losses…” The sources added that “the fact that the drones succeeded in killing American nationals constitutes a quality development in their work.” The sources expected the Resistance “to escalate its operations until reaching their main objective in pressuring the US occupation forces to leave the region for good.”

“Through this operation, the Popular Resistance managed to infiltrate a high-tech surveillance system that includes radars, thermal cameras, and an air defense system that the US established in all its bases in Syria. Although not the first of its kind, the attack against the Kharb el-Jir Airport specifically constitutes one additional success for the Resistance because the area has been under the SDF control for more than ten years, while the closest point where the Resistance is present in Der az-Zor is more than 200 kilometers away.

“Thus, there are three possibilities regarding the point of setoff for the drone, all of which are disastrous for the Americans: Either the drone succeeded in flying for more than 200 kilometers from the areas under the Syrian army’s control in Der az-Zor thus dodging several American bases in Der az-Zor and Al-Hasakah, or it set off from around the base, or from the Iraqi borders, which are adjacent to the base. This last possibility is a weak one…”