US service members in stable condition after Syria helicopter 'mishap'

No enemy fire was reported and the cause of the accident is under investigation

A US military convoy on patrol in Syria's Hasakah province. AP

The 22 US service members who were injured in a helicopter “mishap” in north-east Syria are in a stable condition, a Pentagon representative said on Tuesday.

“This is under investigation. So we will hopefully learn more soon,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said of the incident, which occurred on Sunday.

“But as of right now, all of the service members involved in that crash are in stable condition.”

The servicemen are receiving treatment, with 10 evacuated to higher-level care centres outside the US Central Command's area of responsibility.

Ms Singh said the incident occurred when an MH 47 Chinook had a problem with a motor that caused a hard landing during take-off.

No enemy fire was reported and the cause of the incident is under investigation, Central Command said on Monday evening.

The US has about 900 troops stationed at bases and posts across north-eastern Syria as part of the international coalition fighting remnants of ISIS.

American forces also support the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurds' de facto army in the area, and were involved in the 2019 battle that dislodged ISIS from its last strongholds in Syria.

US personnel have frequently been the target of attacks by militia groups.

In late March, a drone attack on an American base killed a contractor and wounded five troops and another contractor.

In retaliation, US fighter jets struck several locations around the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, which lies on the border with Iraq.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time that groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were the target of the strikes, which were carried out in response to the drone assault and a series of other attacks against US-led coalition forces in Syria.

US forces were first deployed to Syria during the Obama administration's campaign against ISIS, where they teamed up with the SDF.

While ISIS is now a shadow of the group that ruled over a third of Syria and Iraq in a caliphate declared in 2014, hundreds of fighters are still in desolate areas where neither the US-led coalition nor the Syrian army, with support from Russia and Iranian-backed militias, exert full control.

Thousands of other ISIS fighters are in detention centres guarded by the SDF, Washington's key ally in the country.

US officials say that ISIS could still regroup and turn into a major threat.

The threat posed by Iran-backed militias to US forces are a reminder of the complex geopolitics of Syria, where President Bashar Al Assad counts on support from Tehran and Moscow and sees American troops as occupiers.

On Saturday, Syrian Kurdish-led authorities announced that hundreds of ISIS fighters held in prisons around the region would be put on trial after their home countries refused to repatriate them.