US personnel suffered minor injuries during an attack Saturday on the Ain Al-Asad air base in western Iraq amid escalating conflicts in the Middle East, according to reports.
A US defense source and an Iraqi police official told AFP that at least a dozen missiles were fired at the base, which houses US and other military troops in Iraq.
“Al-Asad air base was hit by 15 rockets,” an Iraqi police official told the outlet, adding that the attacks came from Anbar province, the region of southwestern Iraq where the base is located.
The police official added that although 13 of the projectiles were shot down, “two fell on the air base.”
The US defense official confirmed that “the missiles hit Al-Asad Air Base” and that a damage assessment was underway.
The injured were not immediately identified.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of Iran-backed militia groups that oppose US support for Israel amid its war with Hamas, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack, AFP reported.
US and Iraqi sources said two projectiles of approximately 15 fired managed to hit the air base. AFP via Getty Images
In addition to the injuries to U.S. personnel, a member of the Iraqi security forces was seriously injured during Saturday’s attack, according to a U.S. official.
Saturday’s attack came as a barrage of attacks hit Iran-linked targets across the Middle East on Saturday, as tensions continued to rise in the wake of Israel’s war against Tehran-backed Hamas on October 7.
In the Syrian capital of Damascus, an Israeli missile strike reportedly killed five members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including the head of the elite force’s information unit.
American personnel and a member of the Iraqi security forces were wounded during Saturday’s attacks. AP
Hours later, another drone strike in the Lebanese city of Tire hit a car and killed two Hezbollah members.
Since October 7, Tehran’s militias have attacked the US military at least 58 times in Iraq and another 83 times in Syria, as revenge for its support for Israel.
The United States has 900 troops stationed in Syria and another 2,500 in Iraq to advise local forces on how to quell any possible return of the Islamic State, which managed to seize large amounts of territory in both nations in 2014 before finally being defeated.
Saturday’s attack on the air base came as strikes were being carried out across the Middle East targeting targets linked to Iran. REUTERS
The Iraqi government is sweating the possibility of becoming a battleground between the United States, Israel and Iran.
Following a US drone attack in Baghdad condemned by the Iraqi government, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office announced that it was in the process of clearing US forces from the country.
The Pentagon said the drone strike killed a militia leader who was behind recent attacks on U.S. personnel.
He added that he had not received any formal information from Baghdad about the expulsion of its troops and that he was in the country at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn