2024-08-06 04:53:40
Rockets launched on Monday against a base in Iraq that hosts American troops have left several wounded, days after an American attack killed four pro-Iranian Iraqi fighters, amid fears of a regional conflict. , according to Iraqi sources.
“There was an alleged rocket attack (Monday) against US and (international counter-jihadist) forces at the Air Base in Iraq. Initial indications are that several American personnel have been injured,” a US Defense spokesman said.
Several sources confirmed the attack
“We launched rockets at the Ain al-Assad base”, in the al-Anbar region, an Iraqi military source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Some “fell into the base”, and one rocket fell on a neighboring village without causing damage, he added.
The commander of an Iranian armed group, for his part, told AFP, also on condition of anonymity, that at least “two rockets targeted” the base, without specifying who was behind the attack. Another source from the group and a security source, also on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that an attack had taken place.
Such attacks were common at the beginning of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but have been greatly reduced.
However, this latest rocket attack comes amid growing fears of an attack by Iran and its allies on Israel, following the recent killings of senior Hamas figures and Lebanese Hezbollah operatives, blamed on or attributed to Israel.
Iran and Hezbollah have vowed revenge for the killings, the latest in a series of back-to-back attacks that have raised fears of a regional upheaval from the war in Gaza. The “Axis of Resistance” against Israel, in accordance with Iran, also with Iraqi military groups and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have already been drawn into the war that began almost 10 months ago.
An American attack last Tuesday
Monday’s rocket attack comes after a US strike last Tuesday that targeted pro-Iranian Iraqi fighters “attempting to eliminate attack drones” that “pose a threat to the US and jihadist coalition forces in the region, according to to a US security official. This attack, which according to Iraqi sources left four people dead, was the first carried out by American troops in Iraq since February.
Two recent attacks hit US military bases or their allies in Iraq, on July 16 and 25. Before that, US troops in Iraq and Syria had not been targeted since April. But attacks against them have been very frequent, more than 175 times, during the first months of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” group, a nebula of fighters from Iran’s armed forces, claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, saying they were carried out in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
In January, a drone strike attributed to this movement killed three American soldiers at a base in Jordan. In retaliation, the United States launched several attacks against pro-Iranian fighters in Iraq and Syria. Since then, attacks against American forces have decreased significantly.
Baghdad has tried to de-escalate the situation, initiating discussions with Washington on the future of the international coalition’s work in Iraq, with pro-Iran groups calling for its removal. There are about 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria.
#Iraq #rocket #fire #base #hosts #American #troops #leaves #casualties