Click to see full-size. (U.S. Army photo)
On December 6, the United States-led coalition announced that its forces in northeastern Syria had conducted an operational rehearsal exercise with M777 towed 155 mm howitzers.
On Twitter, the coalition said that the exercise was held at the Conoco Mission Support Site, which is located within a key gas facility in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
According to the coalition, the exercise was conducted “to validate weapons systems and maintain readiness in mission-essential tasks that help promote regional security and stability.”
The U.S.-led coalition deployed additional M777 howitzers in northeastern Syria in the last two years to support its allies in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The M777 has a maximum rate of fire of seven rounds per minute with a range of up to 40 kilometers when firing Excalibur precision-guided rounds.
U.S.-led coalition bases in northeastern Syria, including the Conoco Mission Support Site, came under attack on multiple occasions this year.
The two most recent attacks, which took place on November 17 and 25, targeted the so-called Green Village base in al-Omar oil fields in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. The attacks didn’t result in any losses. They were reportedly carried out by Iranian-backed forces in response to Israeli strikes on Syria.
Washington claims that its forces are still in Syria only to combat ISIS remnants. However, these forces continue to occupy lucrative oil and gas fields in the northeastern region.
The U.S.-led coalition has been working to expand and reinforce its bases in northeastern Syria, where it keeps several hundred troops, for a while now. Washington appears to be determined to maintain a military presence in the war-torn country for the long term.
Why does they practice with these others heavy scrap metals? isn’t F35 enough?
Trying to hold on to the Syrian oil these bastards stole. Criminal psychopaths.
Usa will contunie stealing petrol of syria together with kurdistan