US deploys mobile artillery rocket launchers in Syria

The United States has deployed mobile artillery rocket launchers in southern Syria, aiming to defend its At-Tanaf base where it trains anti-Islamic State forces, Pentagon officials confirmed Thursday.Officials would not say how many of the HIMARS units, a truck-mounted multiple rocket launch system, had been moved into the area.The move sparked a protest from Russia, which supports Assad and said the HIMARS system would be used against Syrian government forces.