WASHINGTON: A US soldier deployed in Syria to advise rebel groups fighting the militant Islamic State (IS) group was wounded over the weekend, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

US military spokesman Jeff Davis said the soldier was wounded by “indirect fire” -- a term that typically refers to rocket or artillery fire -- north of Raqqa, the militants' de facto capital.

He was “not on the front line,” Davis said.

Davis said it is the first American casualty in Syria that he is aware of since US military advisory deployed there at the end of last year.

The United States has sent more than 200 special forces personnel to northeastern Syria to advise and assist rebel groups fighting the Islamic State group.

American soldiers are focusing on aiding the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition dominated by the Kurdish militia YPG.

Fighting is currently raging in northern Raqqa eight days after the start of an SDF offensive, with support from air strikes by a US-led international coalition.

Another US soldier was injured last weekend in northern Iraq near the city of Erbil, also by indirect fire, Davis said.