(Washington) Drone attacks against American forces and the international coalition in Iraq were “foiled” on Wednesday and the machines “shot down”, causing minor injuries, American military authorities indicated against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian.
“Over the past 24 hours, the US military has defended itself against three drones that were in close proximity to US and coalition forces in Iraq,” the US Middle East Military Command (Centcom) said in a statement. communicated.
“In western Iraq, US forces opened fire on two drones, destroying one and damaging the other, leading to minor injuries to coalition forces. In northern Iraq, American forces destroyed a drone, without causing any injuries,” Centcom continued, without identifying the people or groups who operated these drones.
In recent days, Iraqi armed factions close to Iran have threatened to attack American interests in Iraq because of Washington’s support for Israel in the conflict with Hamas, a war which has left thousands dead.
Through social networks, these factions claimed responsibility for two separate drone attacks during the day against two Iraqi bases housing American and international coalition soldiers.
The first attack would have targeted, according to these groups, the Aïn al-Assad base, in western Iraq. The second would have aimed at al-Harir, in Iraqi Kurdistan (north).
Regarding this latest attempt, the anti-terrorist services of Iraqi Kurdistan indicated that an “armed” drone had fallen on Wednesday in a “desert area”, without causing any injuries.
Extension of the conflict?
These incidents involving drones come the day after a strike against a Gaza hospital which left hundreds dead, according to the Palestinian territory’s Ministry of Health.
Palestinian Hamas blamed Israel, which, in turn, blamed the explosion on rocket fire from Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, eleven days after the start of the war triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel.
As of Tuesday evening, pro-Iranian Iraqi factions accused Israel and the United States of having committed a “massacre” in Gaza. One of them, the Hezbollah Brigades, demanded that the Americans “leave” Iraq, “otherwise they will taste the fires of hell”.
“In this period of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and in the region,” Centcom added on Wednesday, saying it was ready to “defend” American and international coalition soldiers “against any threat.”
Until last year, bases housing international coalition troops were the target of frequent rocket fire and armed drones. Since the summer of 2022, however, these attacks have ceased as Iraq returned to a certain stability.
These attacks were generally not claimed, with the United States blaming them on pro-Iranian factions.
Some 2,500 American soldiers and a thousand soldiers from other member countries of the coalition are today stationed on three bases held by Iraqi forces.