American and allied forces deployed in Iraq and Syria, engaged in counter-terrorism efforts, have been repeatedly targeted by drone and missile attacks this month. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a US base in northeastern Syria was hit by five rockets on Wednesday, and the troops have reportedly begun redeployment.
Although the attacks have not been claimed by a known group with documented links to Iran, Washington says Tehran is involved and has threatened to respond “decisively” to strikes by its proxies.
The recent spike in attacks is linked to the latest war between Israel and Hamas. Armed factions close to Iran have threatened to attack US interests over Washington’s support for Israel, with one of them, the Hezbollah Brigades (Kata’ib Hezbollah), demanding that American forces leave Iraq or “taste the fires of hell.”
Read more
The Pentagon said there were ten attacks on American and allied forces in Iraq and three in Syria between October 17 and 24, involving a “mix of one-way attack drones and rockets.”
Many, though not all, of the recent attacks have been claimed by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq.” It is not one of the established militant groups operating in the region and has not publicly declared affiliation with or backing from a specific government. But its claims of attacks on US forces have appeared in Telegram channels used by pro-Iranian armed factions, and the Pentagon has said the organizations “conducting these attacks are supported by the IRGC and the Iranian regime,” a reference to Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The White House has meanwhile said Iran is “actively facilitating” attacks on US forces in the Middle East. Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, said the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq is a media claiming name, it’s not a group.” It is the result of various existing Iran-backed groups in Iraq deciding “during the duration of this Gaza conflict to jointly claim all of their attacks,” he said.
The impact of the attacks has been relatively limited, but the possibility of escalation is high. The Pentagon said Wednesday that 21 US personnel “received minor injuries due to drone attacks” in Iraq and Syria last week, but all returned to duty. “What we are seeing is the prospect for more significant escalation against US forces and personnel across the region in the very near term coming from Iranian proxy forces, and ultimately from Iran,” the Pentagon said.
There are roughly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which once held significant territory in both countries but was pushed back by local ground forces backed by international air strikes in a bloody multi-year conflict.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
