![A US soldier [left] and an Iraqi soldier [right] speak with one another at al-Assad air base in western Iraq on December 21, 2021. Photo: US army](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.rudaw.net%2Fs3%2Frudaw.net%2FContentFiles%2F769076Image1.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Since October, US troops based in Iraq and Syria have been attacked with one-way drones and rockets around 70 times by armed groups backed by Iran, causing over 60 injuries to American personnel, according to the Pentagon. The groups are angry over Washington’s support for Israel in its fight against the Palestinian Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip.
“The Secretary called on the Iraqi government to fulfill its commitments to protect all installations hosting U.S. personnel at its invitation and to pursue those responsible for attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq,” spokesperson for the Department of State Matthew Miller said in a statement late Friday.
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared territorially defeated in 2019.
The US has retaliated against the Iran-backed militias. On November 22, US warplanes struck pro-Iran fighters in Jurf al-Nasr (formerly Jurf al-Sakhar) in northern Babil province, around 60 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) confirmed to AFP that the strikes left eight fighters dead.
The Iraqi government said at the time that it “vehemently condemns” the US airstrikes.
Sudani told Blinken in their phone call that he “firmly” rejects any attack on Iraqi land. “The incident in Jurf al-Nasr was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” a statement from Sudani’s office quoted him as saying.
“Simultaneously, he emphasized the Iraqi government's commitment to ensuring the safety of the international coalition advisors present in Iraq,” it added.
Israel and Hamas announced a temporary truce on November 24, with Qatari and Egyptian mediation. It ended on Friday. The Pentagon said last week that attacks against US troops based in Syria and Iraq had been halted during the truce.
Blinken and Sudani discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict “and the need to prevent the conflict from spreading,” Miller said in the statement.
“The Secretary discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and our work with Iraq and other partners in the region to identify the steps that we can take now to lay the foundation for a just and lasting peace,” he added.
The statement from Sudani’s office said “The call delved into developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, focusing on Iraq's efforts to mitigate the severe repercussions resulting from repeated attacks on the Gaza Strip. The emphasis was on stabilizing the truce, halting aggression, and preventing the escalation of the conflict to safeguard security and stability in the region.”
