(Patriot.Buzz) – Amidst escalating tensions, a senior U.S. military official has reported that four military bases in the Middle East, where U.S. troops are stationed, have come under attack from groups supported by Iran.
The Islamic Resistance, an Iran-backed group, announced this week that it targeted U.S. and coalition forces at the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq, as per NBC News. However, the rocket attack did not result in any injuries or damage to the infrastructure.
Apart from Ain al-Asad, three additional bases in the region were assaulted, the senior military official confirmed. The Pentagon has not provided immediate further details.
The onslaught on Ain al-Asad, which occurred in the early morning hours, did not cause any casualties or infrastructure damage, as per sources reported by Reuters. This incident is part of a string of recent attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria as part of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Between October 17 and 30, U.S. and coalition troops have been subjected to at least 23 assaults by rockets and drones in Iraq and Syria, according to information on the U.S. Defense Department website, citing a senior U.S. defense official.
Iraqi armed groups aligned with Iran have threatened to target U.S. interests with missiles and drones if the United States intervenes in support of Israel against Hamas in Gaza.
Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq have been demanding the removal of American troops since a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad killed senior Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in 2020. Subsequently, these militia groups have frequently targeted U.S. forces in the country and the embassy in Baghdad with rocket attacks.
These attacks ceased when Prime Minister Sudani, nominated by the coordination framework — the largest parliamentary bloc composed of an alliance of Iran-aligned factions — took office last year.
Since then, demands for the expulsion of U.S. troops have also diminished. However, these demands, along with the attacks, have resurfaced in relation to the escalating Israeli strikes on Gaza.
Earlier in the week, Iraqi politician Hadi Al-Amiri, leader of the Political and Military Badr organization closely associated with Iran, urged the government to “take all necessary measures to set a serious, specific, and short-term timetable for the exit of international coalition forces from Iraq.”
This call from Amiri comes a few days after Iraq’s Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged the Iraqi government and lawmakers to close the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in response to Washington’s “unfettered support” for Israel.
