Illustrative image. By the Houthis’ Military Media.
On October 18 noon, a drone attack targeted al-Harir Air Base which is located near Erbil city, the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, and is known to host United States troops.
Iraqi media reports said that at least one suicide drone struck al-Harir Air Base. Video footage posted to social networks showed a column of black smoke rising from what was said to be the air base. The footage has not been verified yet. No casualties were reported.
A few hours after the alleged attack, it was reported that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq – al-Warithin Formation, a shadowy Iraqi armed faction that is thought to be affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had claimed responsibility.
A statement with the faction’s name and logo said that al-Harir Air Base was targeted by the al-Aqsa Flood Support Operations Room. Al-Aqsa Flood is the codenamed for the surprise attack on Israel launched by the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions from the Gaza Strip on October 7.
Very little is known about al-Warithin. Last year, the faction attacked Ali Al Salem Air Base in central Kuwait, which hosts U.S. troops, with several suicide drones. Earlier this year, the faction carried out a similar drone attack against the U.S. al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria.
The U.S. has not yet commented on the al-Harir Air Base drone attack reports. If confirmed, this would be the second such attack to target U.S. troops in Iraq in less than a day. In the early morning, U.S. officials told Reuters that two drones were intercepted over Ayn al-Assad Air Base in the western province of al-Anbar.
The reports of attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq came after Palestinian health officials said that more than 500 civilians were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted the Christian-run al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Hundreds others were wounded or went missing.
Hamas held the U.S. directly responsible for the massacre. Similar accusations were made by the remaining parties of the so-called Axis of Resistance, including Iran’s allies in Iraq.
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