[Salon] American bases in the region are under fire from resistance groups



https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/490539/American-bases-in-the-region-are-under-fire-from-resistance-groups

October 24, 2023

American bases in the region are under fire from resistance groups

TEHRAN- The U.S. military bases- Al-Shadadi, Al-Tanf, and Al-Omar- came under attacks by Iraqi resistance groups in response to the Washington-backed Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The American military base Ain al-Asad was once again attacked on Tuesday night, according to te informed sources.

Earlier on Monday, a U.S. base in the Al-Malikiyah area of Al-Hasakah was attacked by an armed drone.

On Monday night, a base in the Al-Tanf region of southern Syria, which includes U.S. forces, was attacked by three armed drones.

In a statement, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq announced the drone attack on the American base of Al-Malikiyah in Syria on Monday.

“Our fighters targeted the U.S. Al-Malikiyah base in Syria with a drone,” announced the Iraqi group. 
Earlier, Syrian sources had announced the drone attack on the U.S. Al-Tanf and Al-Rukban bases in Syria.

The U.S. military base in Syria, including al-Tanf, on the Iraqi border and within miles of the Jordanian border, and the U.S. military base in the Koniko natural gas field, in the northeastern Syrian governorate of Deir Ez-Zor came under drone or rocket attack by Iraqi resistance groups.
  
As with the escalation of the Israeli war crimes and the bombardment of the residential areas, schools, mosques, and hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the Iraqi resistance groups had previously declared they would back the Palestinian nation.

The Iraqi resistance groups had repeatedly targeted the U.S. military bases including the Harir air base in northern Iraq and the Ain al-Asad air base in the western Anbar province.

The Al-Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor where U.S. forces are based as well as U.S. bases in Al-Shaddadi and Al-Hasakah were attacked simultaneously with ground-to-ground missiles.

Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen reported on Thursday that the Al-Tanf base, located in Homs Governorate, was targeted by three drones, but the extent of damage is still unknown.

Sabereen News, a Telegram news channel associated with Iraqi anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units, also reported the incident.

The Al-Tanf base is located 24 km west of the al-Walid border crossing in the Syrian Desert, along the Iraq-Syria border and the Jordan-Syria border.

The illegal U.S. military forces’ presence at the base began in early 2016 during the US-led intervention in Syria under the pretext of fighting the Daesh terrorist group.

Meanwhile, according to Sabereen, another base of the American occupation forces in the Koniko gas field in the eastern Syrian governorate of Dayr al-Zawr was targeted with rockets.

In this regard, the Al-Mayadeen news channel also confirmed that American forces were targeted by multiple bombings in al-Omar square in the suburbs of Deir Ez-Zor (eastern Syria), al-Tanf and Al-Shaddadi bases (northeastern Syria).

Drones and missiles were launched at bases hosting U.S. forces in Iraq on Thursday, reported Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera also reported that a missile attack was carried out on the American military base in Ain al-Asad in Iraq.

An Iraqi security source told Baghdad Al-Youm on Saturday that the Ain al-Asad base in al-Anbar Governorate has been hit by rocket attacks again.

The resistance groups announced in a statement that the fighters of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq targeted Ain al-Asad with a drone.

Iraqi resistance groups have also confirmed that they have targeted the U.S. base named Al-Harir in the north of Iraq. 

The source told Reuters that at least one Katyusha rocket hit the vicinity of Camp Victory near Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). 

The U.S. Al-Tanf base, located on the border of Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, was targeted by 3 drones. 

The Islamic resistance groups of Iraq issued a statement taking responsibility for the attack on the U.S. military base in the Koniko natural gas field.

At the same time with the rise of the attacks of the resistance groups on U.S. bases, Hezbollah wrote on X: “We punish criminals like this.”

Pentagon's reaction to the Iraqi resistance attacks 

Upon the increase of attacks on the U.S. military bases by resistance groups, the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) reported on Monday, October 23, that there is no direct order from Iran to attack U.S. forces.

"We don't necessarily see that Iran has explicitly ordered them (resistance groups) to take these kinds of attacks," Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said.

Pressed on the issue, Ryder added: "We haven't seen a direct order, for example, from Iran saying: 'Go out and do this.'"

At the weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered new air defenses to the Middle East to safeguard troops. He said the Pentagon will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and additional Patriot air defense missile system battalions to the region. 

The United States has also sent warships and fighter aircraft to the region with deployment of two aircraft carriers and about 2,000 Marines.

In the latest incident, U.S. troops were targeted by two attack drones in Syria on Monday but they were intercepted by base defenses and caused no injuries.

Last week, U.S. forces confronted multiple drones targeting them in Iraq, some causing minor injuries.

 



This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail (Mailman edition) and MHonArc.