Syrian army says drone attacks targeted its bases near Iraq

March 30 (Reuters) - The Syrian ‌army said ​on ​Monday drone attacks targeted several of its bases near the Iraqi border, a rare attack ‌on Syrian positions since U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran a ⁠month ago triggered a war across the Middle East.

Damascus has been ‌keen to stay on ‌the sidelines of the regional conflict that has pulled in neighbouring countries, including Lebanon, where armed group Hezbollah ​is locked in fighting with Israeli ground troops, and Iraq, where Iran-aligned factions have launched drone and rocket ⁠attacks.

In a statement on Syrian state media, Syria's army said most of the ​attacking drones were shot down, but did not say where they had come from. It said ​it was assessing its options ‌to respond.

Syria sent thousands of troops to its western border with Lebanon and its eastern ⁠border with Iraq earlier this month. Syria's defense ministry said the deployment was part of efforts to "protect and control the borders ⁠amid the escalating regional conflict".

Over the last month, shrapnel from rocket ​interceptions has landed in several parts of Syria.

Sipan Hamo, the assistant defense minister for eastern Syria, said on Sunday that four drones ‌from Iraq attacked a base in northeast Syria where U.S. forces are stationed, but were ‌intercepted.

"We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to ⁠prevent the recurrence of ‌attacks that threaten our ​stability," Hamo wrote in a statement on X.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Paul ‌Simao)

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