US says 22 soldiers injured in Syria helicopter accident

June 13: The United States military said a helicopter accident in northeast Syria had left 22 US service members injured, though no enemy fire was reported during the “mishap”.

“The service members are receiving treatment for their injuries and 10 have been evacuated to higher care facilities outside of the CENTCOM AOR [US Central Command Area of Responsibility]”, the US military said in a statement on Monday.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident on Sunday in northeast Syria, US Central Command said in a statement.

The statement added that “no enemy fire was reported” at the time of the accident.

US forces operating in Syria since 2015 have come under sporadic attacks from ISIL (ISIS) fighters and Iranian-backed groups operating in the country.

At least 900 US soldiers are deployed in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of US military contractors, as part of operations to assist the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against ISIL (ISIS).

(Al Jazeera)