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The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iranian-backed armed factions, has attacked three bases of the United States in Syria with suicide drones.
The first drone attack targeted al-Malikiyah base in the northeastern governorate of al-Haskaah on December 16. More drones hit two bases at the Conoco gas plant and al-Omar oil fields in the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor early on December 17.
In separate statements, the IRI said that the attacks were carried out in response to Israeli “crimes” against Palestinains in the Gaza Strip.
Attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria began on October 17, ten days after the war broke out in Gaza. Since then, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy has documented 115 attacks in the two countries. The IRI claimed responsibility for most of these attacks.
The U.S. military has already launched several retaliatory strikes against armed factions affiliated with the IRI, including Kata’ib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, in Syria and Iraq. Iraq was also warned by senior American officials. However, the group remains unfettered.
The main aim of the repeated attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq is to pressure Washington into reconsidering its unconditional political and military support for the Israeli war on Gaza, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 18,000 Palestinians.
