A US official said US forces launched a “defensive” airstrike on fighters attempting to launch drones that were seen as a threat to American and allied troops.
The attack – which Iraqi sources said killed at least four people – was the first by US forces in Iraq since February, when the US military said it had killed a pro-Iran commander who was involved in attacks on the country’s troops.
“Tonight, U.S. forces in Iraq conducted a defensive airstrike in Babylon Province, targeting fighters who were using unmanned aerial systems to conduct unprovoked attacks,” a U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that Central Command had determined the drones were “posing a threat to U.S. and coalition forces.”
“We maintain the inherent right of self-defense and will not hesitate to take appropriate action,” the official said.
The Hashd al-Shaabi – a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitary groups that have been integrated into Iraq’s security forces – earlier said four people were killed in missile attacks on a base in Babylon, but made no mention of an attempt to launch a drone from the ground.
“Available information suggests that two patrol parties were targeted by missiles fired from drones,” Hashd said in a statement.
A coalition official told AFP that “four people were killed and others seriously injured in explosions at a Hashd al-Shaabi base.”
A security source confirmed that four people had been killed, and said the death toll was expected to rise.
Frequent attacks
Recently two attacks have been carried out in Iraq targeting American and allied forces.
Last week, several rockets were fired at the Ain al-Assad base, where U.S.-led coalition forces are deployed against the Islamic State jihadist group, officials said.
According to the Pentagon, two drones were fired toward the same base on July 16; one of them was “successfully destroyed” while the other struck the base, causing “minimal damage.”
US troops had not been targeted in Iraq and Syria since April. But attacks against them were very common during the first few months of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, when they were targeted more than 175 times.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of Iran-backed groups, claimed responsibility for most of the attacks and said they were showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
In January, a drone attack blamed on these groups killed three US soldiers at a base in Jordan. In retaliation, the US military carried out dozens of strikes against Tehran-backed militias.
Since then, attacks on American troops have largely stopped.
Baghdad has sought to ease tensions by holding talks with Washington on the future of the US-led coalition’s mission in Iraq.
The US military has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria.
The coalition was deployed to Iraq in 2014 at the government’s request to help fight the Islamic State group, which had seized large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
Remnant IS militants still carry out attacks and ambushes in both countries.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
