Soldiers deployed to At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, on April 22, 2020. (William Howard/U.S> Army)

WASHINGTON — Several U.S. and coalition personnel suffered minor injuries in a drone attack Friday in Syria as more American forces move into the Middle East in anticipation of strikes by Iran and its proxy militias, the Pentagon said.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesman, said Monday that personnel at Rumalyn Landing Zone in northeastern Syria were treated for minor injuries, such as smoke inhalation, but no serious injuries were reported.

“Others are being examined for traumatic brain injuries. Out of an abundance of caution, several service members were transported to a separate location for further assessment and evaluation,” he said. “Again, per [U.S. Central Command], no injuries are life threatening.”

The strike caused damage to one set of facilities, and military officials are still assessing the damage, Ryder said.

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters carried out a rare attack Monday in eastern Syria, striking at three posts manned by pro-government gunmen and claiming that they killed 18 of them in a major escalation near the border with Iraq, The Associated Press reported.

The strike at Rumalyn came after four U.S. troops and a defense contractor were injured in a rocket attack on Aug. 5 at al Asad Air Base in Iraq.

The attack in western Iraq came after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Aug. 2 ordered additional warships and a fighter squadron to the Middle East to bolster defenses in the region. The decision to move U.S. forces came ahead of an anticipated Iranian attack in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

There are about 900 U.S. military personnel still operating in Syria where they support local Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State. There are about 2,500 U.S. military personnel in Iraq also participating in a counter-ISIS mission.

Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which is now deployed in the Middle East. CENTCOM, which oversees U.S. military operations in the region, also announced Thursday that Air Force F-22 Raptors had arrived in the region to help mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies.

Austin on Sunday also ordered the USS Georgia, a guided-missile submarine, to the region and told the USS Lincoln to “accelerate” its transit to the area.

The moves come as the U.S. and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to meet Thursday to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region.