Illustrative image.
On January 5, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iranian-backed armed factions, attacked three bases of the United States military with suicide drones.
The first attack targeted al-Harir Air Base in the Erbil province of the northern Iraqi autonomous region of Kurdistan, while he second and third attacks targeted the al-Shaddadi base in the governorate of al-Hasakah and the Green Village base in the Deir Ezzor governorate in northeastern and eastern Syria.
In two separate statements, the IRI said that the attacks were an act of “resistance” against “U.S. occupation” and a response to “Israeli massacres” against Palestinains in the Gaza Strip.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) didn’t comment on the attacks. However, it revealed in a statement that Iraqi Police in the central province Babylon discovered a land attack cruise missile that was used in an attempt to attack U.S. forces.
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A photo shared by the command shows a mysterious cruise missile that is thought to be made by Iran and designated as type “351” by the United States military and intelligence. The missile, which the Iranian-backed Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen call “Quds”, has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers and carries a warhead weighing 450 kg.
“The use of Iranian supplied munitions by terrorist groups within Iraq and Syria endanger Coalition forces and local residents,” CENTCOM said in its statement. “The Coalition is appreciative of the efforts of the legitimate security forces in Iraq for their efforts to prevent future attacks.”
The IRI has targeted U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria with rockets, missiles and drones more than a hundred times since October 17, ten days after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Tensions between the group and the U.S. rose earlier this week after Mushtaq Talib “Abu Taqwa” al-Saidi, a senior commander of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, was killed in a drone strike on the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The Iraqi government held the U.S. responsible for the assassination, calling it a “dangerous escalation” and “an aggression against Iraq.” Later, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced a plan to end U.S. military presence in Iraq.
