US troops in Syria targetted by drones: officials

U.S. forces in Syria brought down two drones that were targeting them, leading to some minor injuries, U.S. officials said on Thursday, with Washington on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions soar during the Israel-Hamas war.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack took place on Wednesday against U.S. forces at Al-Tanf base, near Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan.

The officials did not say who was responsible for the attack.

Lebanon's Iran-aligned Al Mayadeen TV reported on Thursday that two U.S. military bases in Syria have come under attack.

Al Mayadeen reported a drone attack on the Al-Tanf base and a missile attack on the Conoco base in the countryside of the northern Deir al-Zor region. It gave no further information.

U.S. military forces in Iraq were targeted on Wednesday in two separate drone attacks, with one causing minor injuries to a small number of troops even though the U.S. military managed to intercept the armed drone.

The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, and 900 more in neighbouring Syria, on a mission to advise and assist local forces in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized swathes of territory in both countries.