A number of US soldiers were “lightly wounded” in Wednesday’s drone attack against US occupation forces in Iraq’s Ain al-Asad base, which Washington initially said was thwarted.
The drone which attacked Ain al-Asad base “caused minor injuries to a small number of troops,” an anonymous US official told Reuters.
“Some U.S. troops were being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury,” another US official said.
According to an Iraqi security official cited by Reuters, another drone attack targeted the Al-Harir base in Erbil, resulting in no injuries or damage.
Jaafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for Iraqi resistance faction Kataib Hezbollah, revealed on 19 October that his group was behind the attacks on US troops, adding that “the operations will continue at a higher pace.”
The US “knows very well the potential of the Iraqi resistance, which has multiplied for some time, and today we are at a stage capable of striking all American bases in Iraq,” Husseini said.
The spokesman also announced Kataib Hezbollah’s entry into Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which was launched by Hamas on 7 October and was met with a brutal Israeli campaign targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip.
“The Americans are essential partners in killing the residents of the Gaza Strip and therefore, they must bear the consequences.”
Resistance groups in Iraq significantly scaled back their attacks against US forces over the past year since Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani came into power. Prior to that, US bases and logistical convoys came under regular attack.
A spokesman for the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada group revealed in April that Iraqi resistance factions ceased their attacks against the US occupation for a period of time in order to allow Sudani to arrange the affairs of his government without pressure, and to give him time to “enact a binding decision by the Iraqi parliament to his government to oust all foreign forces.”
In August, as Iran was preparing for a prisoner exchange that saw the release of its $6 billion in frozen assets, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani reportedly paid a secret visit to Iraq to advise IRGC-linked resistance groups against attacking US forces and compromising talks.
Since the start of Al-Aqsa Flood, Iraqi resistance factions have expressed readiness to join the battle against Israel and the US, which has deployed massive warships to support its ally in the assault against Gaza.
The Iraqi resistance attack on US forces comes after defense officials in Washington expressed concern that its forces stationed across West Asia could be at risk of increased attacks given the explosion of the situation in Palestine and US support for Israel.
Iraqi resistance commander, Abu Azrael of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) faction, Kataib al-Imam Ali, arrived in the south of Lebanon recently, where the Lebanese resistance Hezbollah has been continuously targeting Israeli troops on the border.
Abu Azrael has been filmed threatening Israel from the Lebanese border.
🔴Iraqi Abu Azrael is on the border separating Lebanon and Palestine in the Naqoura region in southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/Lp6IS2om3T
— Suribelle 🚩 (@Syribelle) October 18, 2023
Source » thecradle