On Wednesday security sources said that two drones were fired into an Iraqi site that houses US-led coalition soldiers. The attack came amid rising tensions stoked by Israel’s conflict with the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza.
It happened exactly a week before a high-level Iraqi military delegation is scheduled to visit Washington to begin negotiations on terminating the US-led military coalition’s stay in the Arab nation. According to reports, in the western province of Anbar many explosions were heard after being struck by two drones on Tuesday; no injuries or damage were reported.
Speaking confidentiality because he is not permitted to speak to the media, a police officer stated that “an attack using two drones” hit the Ain al-Assad facility in the province of Anbar on Tuesday night. “One drone was shot down outside the base by defense systems, and the second exploded inside the base without causing any injuries or damage,” he added.
Tuesday’s strike was also verified by a senior security officer in Baghdad, who stated that he thought the goal was to “embarrass” the Iraqi government and put pressure on the coalition of countries to withdraw from the country.
Iraq and American troops
About 2,500 US military personnel are stationed in Iraq and 900 are part of the multinational coalition in Syria. At the government’s request, the coalition was sent to Iraq in 2014 to aid in the fight against IS, which had taken control of large portions of both neighboring Syria and Iraq.
A site in Syria that was housing the multinational coalition was the focus of rocket fire in April, coming from northern Iraq. Three US soldiers on a facility in Jordan across the border were murdered by a drone strike carried out by armed groups in Iraq at the end of January. The US responded by carrying out devastating airstrikes. By holding negotiations with Washington to determine a schedule for the coalition’s withdrawal, Baghdad has attempted to alleviate the tensions.
The two nations decided to set up collaborative teams, which would ultimately result in the US-led coalition’s reduction in collation advisors stationed in Iraq. Iraqi politicians, such as Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, have advocated on several occasions for the withdrawal of US forces from their nation. More than ten years after a US-led coalition invaded the Arab nation in flagrant violation of international law on the false pretense that Iraq had WMDs at the time, Iraqi opposition organizations have also been advocating for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.
