WASHINGTON, March 24, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A US contractor was killed and five American service members, plus another US contractor, were injured after a drone struck a military base in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said late Thursday.

"A US contractor was killed and five US service members and one additional US contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria," the Defense Department said in a statement.

US intelligence considered the drone to be "of Iranian origin," the statement added.