(Baghdad) – Security sources in Iraq said that a new drone attack targeted an Iraqi base housing American forces on Saturday, something the Pentagon said it could not confirm.
This is the fifth attack in four days targeting American and foreign forces in Iraq, where armed factions close to Iran threaten American interests due to Washington’s support for Israel, the target of a deadly attack on an unprecedented scale carried out by American forces on October 7. Hamas Islamic Movement.
The attack that occurred on Saturday did not result in any human casualties, and a group called the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” claimed responsibility for it through Telegram channels affiliated with Shiite factions loyal to Iran.
A military source told Agence France-Presse that “a drone fell inside the base” of Ain al-Assad in western Iraq, where American forces and the international anti-jihadist coalition are deployed. The machine “did not cause any harm.”
A second local security official spoke of “two drones”: “The first was intercepted and the second crashed due to a technical problem.”
But the Pentagon indicated that it had no knowledge of such an event.
A US Defense Department official, who requested anonymity, said: “We have not seen any operational reports confirming” an attack on Saturday.
The Ain al-Assad base, the al-Harir base in northern Iraq, and a camp near Baghdad airport have been subjected to five attacks since Wednesday. These bases host American and coalition soldiers.
Today, about 2,500 American soldiers and 1,000 soldiers from other coalition member states are stationed in bases controlled by Iraqi forces.
In recent days, pro-Iranian factions, which support Hamas and do not recognize the State of Israel, have increased their threats against the United States. One of them, Kataib Hezbollah, demanded that the Americans “leave” Iraq, “or else they will taste the fire of hell.”
More than 1,400 people have been killed on Israeli territory by Hamas fighters since October 7, most of them civilians shot dead, burned alive or mutilated on the first day of the attack carried out from the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli authorities. .
In the Gaza Strip, nearly 4,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in sustained bombardment by the Israeli army in response, according to the Hamas health ministry.
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