A variety of U.S. personnel have been being evaluated for traumatic mind accidents, and not less than one Iraqi service member was wounded, Centcom mentioned, including: “Injury assessments are ongoing.” Reuters reported that U.S. troops suffered “minor accidents” within the assault. The Protection Division referred The Washington Submit on Sunday to Centcom, which didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition together with Iranian-linked militias, claimed duty for the assault towards Ain al-Asad. In an announcement Saturday, the group mentioned the strike was a part of its broader resistance towards the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The assault comes amid a broader enhance in strikes towards U.S. troops primarily based in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington’s assist of Israel and its army operation in Gaza, which the territory’s Well being Ministry mentioned has killed over 25,000 and injured over 62,600.
The warfare has fueled issues about regional spillover affecting international locations together with Yemen, Lebanon, Iran and Pakistan — and the roughly 2,500 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq as a part of efforts to fight the Islamic State terrorist group. There have been greater than 130 assaults on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militant teams since Oct. 17, in keeping with the Pentagon.
The assaults have thrust the federal government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani into the center of the rising tensions between Tehran and Washington. Additionally they recommend that an unofficial détente with Iraq’s Iranian-linked militants — who had halted assaults on U.S. targets that they started after President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 — has come to an finish. The pause in strikes on bases housing American troops started in October 2022 with the appointment of Sudani and ended with the beginning of the warfare in Gaza.
After U.S. forces performed what the Pentagon known as a “self-defense” strike in Baghdad concentrating on a frontrunner of an Iranian-backed militia on Jan. 4, al-Sudani’s workplace mentioned it could take steps to evict U.S. troops, Reuters reported. Nonetheless, a couple of days after the strike, the Pentagon’s press secretary, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, advised reporters he was “not conscious of any plans” to withdraw American troops or “of any notifications by the Iraqi authorities to the Division of Protection.”
“We’re there on the invitation of the federal government of Iraq,” Ryder mentioned.
The spate of assaults has additionally brought on tensions between Iraq and Iran. Final week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at what it mentioned have been members of the Islamic State group in Syria and the “espionage headquarters” of Israel’s Mossad intelligence company in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan area, in keeping with statements printed by state media.
In response, Iraq recalled its ambassador from Tehran, and al-Sudani known as it “an act of aggression towards Iraq and a setback to the historic relationship with Iran.” Iraq and Kurdish officers denied Iran’s claims in regards to the alleged spy website, and the Israeli prime minister’s press workplace declined to remark.
Earlier on Saturday, an explosion within the Syrian capital killed 5 Iranian army advisers, in keeping with the IRGC, which accused Israel of invading Damascus.
When reached requested in regards to the Damascus strike, the Israeli army mentioned it doesn’t touch upon overseas stories. Iranian state media reported that Tehran known as the strike a “determined try to unfold instability” within the area and mentioned it has the fitting to reply.
The IRGC mentioned that the assault was carried out by “fighter jets” and that “quite a lot of Syrian forces” have been among the many useless.
Video of the aftermath Saturday confirmed smoke rising above the town. Syrian state media mentioned the blast struck a residential constructing within the western Damascus neighborhood of Mezzeh that’s dwelling to diplomatic missions and help businesses.
Kyle Melnick and Niha Masih contributed to this report.
