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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi militia group on Thursday said it had targeted US troops in Iraq’s western province of Anbar with rockets, one day after it hit American forces in Erbil. The attack comes as a response to US support for Israel, which is currently at war with the Palestinian Hamas Movement.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said it hit Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, which houses US-led global coalition personnel and Iraqi army troops.
“The targets were hit directly and precisely,” it claimed.
Washington has yet to confirm the rocket attack.
Reuters cited two unnamed security sources as saying the air base was hit with rockets and drones, adding that it is not clear if the attacks caused casualties or damages.
The same group claimed responsibility for the Wednesday drone attack against US troops in Erbil province which the American army said did not cause casualties.
“In this moment of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and the region. We want to emphasize U.S. forces will defend U.S. and Coalition forces against any threat,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Wednesday.
The attacks came after pro-Iran Iraqi militias warned the US that its bases and troops in Iraq would become “legitimate targets” if it decided to directly intervene in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
“In western Iraq, U.S. forces engaged two drones, destroying one and damaging the second, resulting in minor injuries to Coalition forces,” added CENTCOM in the statement.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder on Thursday said one civilian contractor died following the incident.
"Though no attack occurred, sadly a US civilian contractor suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering and passed away shortly thereafter," he told journalists during a briefing.
He threatened that Washington will take all necessary measures to defend US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.
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