4 U.S. soldiers killed in NE Syria

Four U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday by an explosive device in the countryside of Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, reported Xinhua, quoting state news agency SANA.

The explosive device tore through a U.S. military vehicle in the village of Markadeh on the Hasakah-Deir al-Zour road, said the report.

It added that a translator was among the slain soldiers.

Following the explosion, the U.S. forces cordoned off the area amid the flight of U.S. warplanes in the area.

The slain soldiers were taken to a U.S. base in the Shaddadi area in the Hasakah countryside, SANA noted.

SANA said the U.S. forces and their allies of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control the majority of oil fields in northeastern Syria.

It said that thousands of truckloads of military gears reached U.S. bases in Hasakah.