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Middle East
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki (left) speaks at a presser on January 6, 2021. Photo: screenshot; Shot down drone at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase (right) on January 4, 2021. Photo: Security Media Cell/Twitter; Graphic: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - America does not attribute the latest attacks on US military in both Iraq and Syria to any particular group, an official from the White House said late Thursday following an upsurge of offensives on bases housing coalition forces
“We don’t have any specific attribution today, in terms of the particular group by name or groups who might be responsible for this,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a press briefing.
The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) came under fire in a series of attacks last week, at the same time thousands of people across the Middle East held emotional commemorations marking the second anniversary of the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia commander in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020.
Psaki noted that “it is certainly possible” for the recent attacks to be due to “the anniversary of the Soleimani strike.”
Widely blamed on the Iran-backed militias, attacks on American forces stepped up following Soleimani’s killing, allowing Iran to increase its influence in Iraq.
The American troops shot down two explosive-laden drones targeting a US compound in Baghdad airport on Monday, marking exactly two years since the general’s death.
Photos of the shot-down drones were shared on Telegram channels affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) with the phrase "Soleimani's revenge" written on them.
Five rockets targeted Ain al-Asad airbase on Wednesday evening while “eight rounds of indirect fire” were reported from Syria.
The Pentagon late Tuesday said their troops in Iraq and Syria “remain at risk,” after they foiled another rocket attack in northeast Syria (Rojava) and shot down two explosive-laden drones in western Iraq on the same day.
"We continue to see threats against our forces in Iraq and Syria by militia groups that are backed by Iran. But again, I don't have specific attribution on who was responsible for these specific sites," Pentagon spokesperson John F. Kirby said.
The US strike on Soleimani was ordered by former US President Donald Trump who called Soleimani “the number one terrorist anywhere in the world” and claimed he was planning attacks on US forces. Tehran has threatened revenge for the general’s death.
Last year, at least 36 rocket and drone attacks were reported on bases and facilities housing US forces and personnel in Iraq and Syria, according to data compiled by Rudaw English.
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