New attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria: US official

In the last 48 hours, US forces and the international coalition against the Islamic State group faced new attacks in Iraq and Syria involving drones and missiles. This follows US strikes that targeted Iran-affiliated fighters, as reported by a US military official on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the US Central Command in the Middle East announced that it had conducted "precision strikes" on two locations in Iraq in response to repeated attacks by Iran-backed factions against US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.

The US strikes targeted positions belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an alliance of armed factions integrated into the Iraqi regular forces. The raids resulted in the death of eight fighters, according to a statement by Kataeb Hezbollah, a prominent faction within the PMF.

On both Wednesday and Thursday mornings, drones attacked "US and coalition forces" stationed at Erbil International Airport in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, according to a US military official cited by AFP. 

The official added that the attacks did not cause "casualties or damage to infrastructure."

Additionally, several drones targeted US and coalition forces at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq's Anbar province on Thursday. No injuries or damages were reported, according to the US military official.

On the same day, "several rockets" struck a base in eastern Syria housing US military and coalition forces, causing no casualties or damages, the same official reported.

"Islamic Resistance in Iraq" claimed responsibility for some of these attacks in statements posted on the Telegram app.

Overall, Washington has recorded 72 attacks since October 17, ten days after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to an updated tally provided by the US military official. These missile and drone attacks have resulted in approximately sixty US military personnel being injured, according to the Pentagon.

In response, the US has targeted Iranian-affiliated sites in Syria three times.


AFP