Senior U.S. defense officials tell Fox News Digital there have been two new attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria.
At Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, a one-way attack drone was shot down near the base. No injuries or damage were reported.
At Patrol Base Al-Shaddadi in Syria, there was a multi-rocket attack, though no injuries or damage were reported to infrastructure.
Military vehicles of U.S. soldiers are seen at the al-Asad air base in Anbar province, Iraq, Jan. 13, 2020. (REUTERS/John Davison)
The latest round of attacks brings the total number of attacks to at least 90 since Oct. 17, which was less than two weeks into Israel’s war with Hamas.
The attacks have been claimed by an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militants dubbed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The militants say their attacks are in retaliation for Washington’s backing of Israel and its military presence in Iraq and Syria.
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Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq, and a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power in October 2022. At the same time, there are some 2,000 U.S. troops in Iraq under an agreement with Baghdad, mainly to counter the militant Islamic State group.
Smoke is seen rising from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Nov. 24, before the cease-fire went into effect. (John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images)
Baghdad also relies heavily on Washington’s sanctions waivers to buy electricity from Iran, and since the 2003 U.S. invasion, Iraq’s foreign currency reserves have been housed at the U.S. Federal Reserve, giving the Americans significant control over Iraq’s supply of dollars.
The U.S. and much of the international community, meanwhile, have scrambled to prevent the war in the besieged Gaza Strip from expanding across the region.
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Unlike Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, seen as Iran’s most powerful proxy in the region, Iraq’s militias have so far only played a limited role in the conflict.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
