BAGHDAD – U.S. military forces experienced four separate attacks in Iraq and Syria on Thursday, involving rockets and armed drones. Despite the assaults, no casualties or damage to infrastructure were reported, according to a U.S. military official who spoke under the condition of anonymity.
The attacks included multiple rocket strikes and a drone assault against U.S. and international forces at two locations in northeastern Syria. In Iraq, Ain Al-Asad airbase, west of Baghdad, and a base near Erbil airport in northern Iraq housing U.S. forces, were targeted by multiple one-way drones.
A group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which analysts believe represents various Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups, claimed responsibility for these attacks earlier in the day.
This wave of attacks followed a U.S. strike on the Iran-aligned Kataeb Hezbollah (KH) armed group south of Baghdad, which resulted in the death of eight KH members. The Iraqi government condemned this U.S. action as an escalation and a breach of its sovereignty.
U.S. officials have justified the strikes on Iran-aligned groups as a response to a surge in attacks targeting U.S. and international forces. Since Oct. 17, ten days after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, there have been 36 attacks in Iraq and 37 in Syria, as per the U.S. military official’s statement.