Media: US And Syrian Troops Fight In Euphrates Region

This follows Israeli and US air strikes on the eastern neighbourhoods of Deir ez-Zor.

The Syrian army has engaged US troops and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) east of the Euphrates River.

This follows the Israeli and US air strikes on the eastern neighbourhoods of Deir ez-Zor, Al Mayadeen TV reported.

It said the sides used various types of weapons, including heavy artillery and rockets. The fighting began at around 02:27 (3:27 Moscow time). One hour after the intensification of hostilities, their intensity decreased.

The day before, on 8 November, at around 22:50 (23:50 Minsk time), the Israeli air force struck "some military points in the southern region" of Syria, causing material damage, the Syrian news agency SANA reported.

At the same time, the US attacked an arms depot in eastern Syria.

The Pentagon said the F-16 fighter jets struck 'in self-defence' because the warehouse was being used by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups. The strike was also a response to a series of attacks on US personnel in Iraq and Syria, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed. In response to the US Air Force, Shiite militias of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq fired six missiles at a US military base near the Koniko gas field in eastern Syria. The same forces later fired at least 15 missiles at a US base near the al-Omar oil field, Al Mayadeen reported. Also in northern Iraq, drones attacked a US base at the Harir military airfield.

Attacks on US military bases and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria have increased since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. According to the Pentagon, bases have been targeted by rockets and attack drones more than 40 times. Dozens of US military personnel have been injured in the series of attacks, Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder said.

The attacks on US bases are small in scale, he said, but US military commanders consider them "troubling and dangerous". "Our focus now is on containing a broader regional conflict," Ryder stressed.

According to the Washington Post, there are currently around 2,500 US troops in Iraq and around 900 in Syria.

The Syrian authorities have voiced support for the Palestinian militants in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel, calling the Israeli response "Zionist terrorism". Damascus has also repeatedly demanded that the US withdraw its troops from the country, claiming they are there illegally.