A U.S. M142 HIMARS systme firing during the coalition’s rehearsal in Syria’s Deir Ezzor. U.S. Army photo.
The United States has deployed M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) in northeastern Syria, the Anadolu Agency reported on May 30, citing local sources in the region.
The system “was sent to the American bases in al-Omar oil fields and the Conoco gas plant” in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside, the sources told the Turkish state-run news agency.
According to the source, the deployment of the systems “aims to confront possible attacks by Iran-backed groups on the opposite bank of the Euphrates River.” Al-Omar and Conoco bases were targeted with rockets and suicide drones on several occasions earlier this year.
The U.S. maintains some 900 troops in Syria under the pretext of fighting ISIS. Most of them are deployed at key oil and gas fields in the country’s northeastern region, where they operate with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The remaining troops are deployed at a garrison in the southeastern area of al-Tanf that blocks the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway.
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The HIMARS system can launch ER-MLRS unguided rockets with a range of 45 kilometers, GMLRS precision-guided rockets with a range of 70 kilometers and the MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missile that has a range of up to 300 kilometers.
The deployment of the system in northeastern Syria is neither new or a secret. Last October, the U.S.-led coalition announced that its forces in the region had conducted an operational rehearsal with HIMARS launchers. However, it didn’t specify at the time where exactly the drill was held.
Previously, several HIMARS launchers were spotted in the coalition’s al-Tanf garrison where they took part in several live-fire exercises.
The Anadolu Agency’s report indicates that the U.S. may have deployed additional HIMARS systems in northeastern Syria. This shows how Washington is working to expand its military presence in the country, in spite of the objection of the legitimate government in Damascus.
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