A suspected rocket attack on Monday injured several US service members in Iraq, according to a defense spokesman.
The strike hit Al-Asad air base in western Iraq, the official said, adding that they were “conducting an assessment of post-strike damage” and would share more information when it became available.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, although Iranian-backed militants appear to have resumed threats against US forces in Iraq in recent days.
Last week, US fighter jets attacked Iranian-backed militants, with US officials saying the fighters were preparing for drone or rocket attacks.
The crisis in Iraq comes at a time when the US and Israel are preparing for an Iranian attack. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of Hamas’s top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was in Tehran last week, and Iran’s supreme leader has vowed revenge. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, although it rarely acknowledges covert operations in countries with which it is not at direct war.
Israeli forces also last week claimed responsibility for an attack on Hezbollah’s top military leader, Fuad Shukr, who was the right-hand man of the Lebanese militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been firing daily at Israel across the border since the war in Gaza began nearly 10 months ago. But after the deaths of Haniyeh and Shukr, greater retaliation by Hezbollah and Iran is raising fears across the Middle East.
The US has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Middle East, along with additional cruisers and destroyers with ballistic missile defense capabilities and a squadron of fighter jets, to prepare for any Iranian and Hezbollah attack.
US forces fought Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq and Syria for months after the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas in October, but the deaths of three US soldiers at a base in Jordan sparked a massive attack on their positions. in February. After the US attack, attacks in Iraq and Syria against American bases ceased.
If Iranian proxies are behind the most recent attack on the Al-Asad base, it is unclear what prompted them to strike again. Iran may be ordering militia groups to carry out more attacks, or the groups may be reacting on their own following the deaths of Haniyeh and Shukr.
Any resurgence of fighting in Iraq could provoke a negative reaction from Baghdad, which intends to expel US troops and could do so at the end of the talks, potentially in the autumn. Iraqi leaders have repeatedly criticized any attacks and battles in Iraq.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
