‘Dive bomber’ drones strike US base in western Iraq
A source in the Iraqi resistance told Lebanese media this week that attacks against US bases in Iraq and Syria may resume
US forces stationed at the Ain al-Assad airbase in western Iraq were attacked with dive bomber drones on 17 July, Al Mayadeen reported.
“The attack targeted a commercial center and a gas station inside the American base … the explosions heard were the result of attacks by the incoming drones,” sources told the news outlet.
The drone attack comes two days after a source in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) told Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that the armed coalition was considering renewing their operations against US bases in Iraq and Syria.
“The [Iraqi] government’s positions are contradictory regarding the termination of the international coalition and US forces’ missions in the country. High-level delegations’ visits to Washington concerning withdrawal scheduling negotiations are a waste of time, as the United States is not willing to do so,” the source told Al-Akhbar.
“The resistance is studying the resumption of its operations against American bases, which were halted to give the government a chance to negotiate, but what is happening now reflects Washington’s insistence on staying under the pretext of organizing bilateral relations, including security,” the source added, calling talks between Baghdad and Washington a “waste of time.”
Baghdad and Washington renewed talks in January aimed at ending the mission of the US coalition in Iraq and transitioning its combat role to an advisory role. That month, the IRI, which banded together in October in support of Gaza, halted the attacks it had been carrying out against US bases in the country since the start of the war.
The decision was a result of pressure from the Iraqi government and followed the killing of three US soldiers on the Jordanian–Syrian border in an Iraqi resistance drone attack on 28 January. At the time, the IRI said it would stop its attacks to allow Baghdad to continue negotiations with the US.
Yet the talks – falsely framed in the media as “withdrawal” talks – have continued to stall. Washington said in January that it has no plans to withdraw its forces from the country.
Al Mayadeen reported last week, citing sources, that the US has backtracked from a decision to announce a timeframe for reducing the number of its forces in Iraq, as discussed in the talks between Baghdad and Washington.
A few unclaimed attacks have befallen US bases in Iraq and Syria since the IRI halted its operations in January.
The IRI has continued to target sites within Israel. It has also boosted cooperation with the Yemeni Armed Forces and has conducted several joint operations with Sanaa.
The IRI announced on 15 July that it targeted the port of Haifa and the city of Eilat with drones and a developed cruise missile in response to the massacre committed by Israeli forces in southern Gaza’s Al-Mawasi over the weekend.
Tel Aviv has since committed several more massacres against Palestinian civilians as part of its genocidal war on the strip.