Middle East
The wreckage of a drone on Ain al-Asad air base, in the western Anbar province of Iraq, in January 2022. Photo: Ap
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A pro-Iran Iraqi militia group on Monday claimed to have targeted four US military bases in Iraq and Syria with drones.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said in a statement that it carried out six drone attacks, three of which targeted the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq’s Anbar province. The other three strikes targeted the US base near Erbil International Airport, and the Tel Baydar and al-Tanf bases in northeast Syria.
The group said the drones “directly hit” their targets.
US troops in western Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and Syria have been the target of a series of rocket and drone attacks by pro-Iran militias since mid-October, in response to Washington supporting Israel in its war against the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
This is the first time the group attacks the four bases on the same day.
Pentagon Spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists on Monday that a total of 38 attacks were conducted on US troops since October 17, 20 in Iraq and 18 in Syria.
A total of 45 US personnel were injured in the militia attacks, all of them prior to the US strikes in Syria on October 26, according to the Pentagon spokesman.
The attacks come a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to discuss the spate of attacks on the US troops by Iranian-backed militias.
Blinken told reporters that during his meeting with Sudani he emphasized that the attacks on US forces were “unacceptable,” and that Washington will do whatever is necessary to protect American interests and personnel.
On October 23, Sudani condemned the repeated strikes on bases hosting US troops, noting that American forces are in the country on an official invitation to support and train Iraqi security forces.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said in a statement that it carried out six drone attacks, three of which targeted the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq’s Anbar province. The other three strikes targeted the US base near Erbil International Airport, and the Tel Baydar and al-Tanf bases in northeast Syria.
The group said the drones “directly hit” their targets.
US troops in western Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and Syria have been the target of a series of rocket and drone attacks by pro-Iran militias since mid-October, in response to Washington supporting Israel in its war against the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
This is the first time the group attacks the four bases on the same day.
Pentagon Spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists on Monday that a total of 38 attacks were conducted on US troops since October 17, 20 in Iraq and 18 in Syria.
A total of 45 US personnel were injured in the militia attacks, all of them prior to the US strikes in Syria on October 26, according to the Pentagon spokesman.
The attacks come a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to discuss the spate of attacks on the US troops by Iranian-backed militias.
Blinken told reporters that during his meeting with Sudani he emphasized that the attacks on US forces were “unacceptable,” and that Washington will do whatever is necessary to protect American interests and personnel.
On October 23, Sudani condemned the repeated strikes on bases hosting US troops, noting that American forces are in the country on an official invitation to support and train Iraqi security forces.
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