According to an American official and Iraqi witnesses close to the strike site, the most recent attack involved at least two rockets that struck inside the base’s perimeter. In addition to an attack on a tiny American base in eastern Syria late last month, where American special operation soldiers collaborate with Syrian Kurdish forces to contain the Islamic State, the base had been targeted at least twice in the previous three weeks.
Several American troops were hurt late on Monday by a rocket attack that targeted American servicemen stationed at a base in the western desert of Iraq, according to U.S. defense authorities.
The assault on Ain al Asad Air site was similar to other ones carried out by armed groups in Iraq supported by Iran. These groups had been targeting the site for a number of years, but they stepped up their efforts when Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza started in October.
According to early reports, the incident on Monday left at least five people injured, including contractors and U.S. personnel.
The attack occurs at a time when tensions are particularly high in the area, with Israel and its allies in the United States, Europe, and the region bracing for a retaliatory strike from Iran following the deaths of Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in the southern suburbs of Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
Regarding the attack in Iran, Israel has not commented, but it has claimed to have carried out the one on Mr. Shukr. Israel is said to have killed Mr. Haniyeh by Iranian and Hamas authorities.
According to the Iranian regime, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, and terrorists in Iraq are among its proxy forces that will be involved in any reprisal attack.
Usually, those terrorists from Iraq have used longer-range rockets to target Israel and assault American forces in Syria and Iraq. The area has been on high alert for a widespread strike such to the one that Iran launched on Israel in April in retaliation for Israel’s killing of four other Revolutionary Guard commanders and three senior leaders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps in Damascus, Syria.
It was unclear whether Monday’s rocket attack at Al Asad Air Base was a reaction to the response or an extension of the Iranian-backed militants’ continuous efforts to target American personnel stationed in Iraq at the government’s request. Forcing the complete withdrawal of American forces from Iraq is the main objective of organizations supported by Iran. As of Monday, no group has claimed accountability for the incident.
Senior Iraqi defense officials and the Pentagon are still negotiating how best to reorganize and reduce the size of US and international forces, but they haven’t made a decision yet. There is debate within the Iraqi government, with some close to Iran calling for an early withdrawal of US forces and others, including many Iraqi defense officials, favoring a more limited, longer-term US presence.
About 2,500 American soldiers are stationed in Syria, where the Islamic State has resumed its activities, and another 900 are in Iraq.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala D. Harris were briefed on the attack, according to a White House statement, and they talked about the administration’s plans “to defend our forces and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner and place of our choosing.”
Following a drone strike on the American portion of the Ain al Asad facility on July 16 that left no casualties in its wake, the U.S. military struck a small drone factory near Jurf al Sakhar, south of Baghdad. This area serves as a base for several groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah, an organization backed by Iran. Four combatants were slain at the location by the US attack: three Iraqis and a commander of the Houthi group.
