Drone, explosive attacks target US forces in Iraq

U.S. forces were targeted
in three attacks in Iraq on Thursday but suffered no casualties,
security sources said, in the most geographically widespread
series of strikes on U.S. assets in a single day since the
Israel-Hamas conflict started.
Spokespeople for the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and U.S.-led
international forces stationed in Iraq did not immediately
respond to requests for comment.
A joint patrol of U.S. forces and the Iraqi
counter-terrorism service was targeted by an explosive device
near the northern city of Mosul on Thursday, causing damage to a
vehicle but no casualties, two security sources said.
Armed drones targeted the al-Harir air base in Erbil and the
Ain al-Asad air base west of Baghdad, both of which house U.S.
and international forces. The drones were downed by air defences
and caused no casualties, security sources said.
A statement from Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism
service, which differs to the Federal Iraqi service, said
attacks by drones at the al-Harir airbase caused a fire at one
of its fuel depots. It added that the base had been evacuated of
U.S.-led coalition forces on Oct. 20.
U.S. and coalition troops have been attacked at least 40
times in Iraq and Syria since early October over Israel’s
devastating siege of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas militants’
Oct. 7 cross-border attack.
Forty-five U.S. soldiers have suffered traumatic brain
injuries or minor wounds, U.S. officials say.
The U.S. blames the attacks on groups backed by Iran and
says Tehran is ultimately responsible, a claim which Tehran
denies, saying groups engaging in the attacks were doing so on
their own accord.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq have publicly stated that U.S.
assets will continue to be targeted as long as the U.S. backs
Israel in its war on Gaza.
The latest attacks come after the White House said on
Thursday the U.S. military had struck targets in Syria to
destroy weaponry and deter Iranian-backed separatist groups from
targeting American personnel in the region.
The United States has occasionally carried out retaliatory
strikes against Iranian-backed forces in the region after they
attack American forces, including a strike on Oct. 26.