At a sensitive time, an Iraqi air base housing US forces was attacked.

On July 16, a military source from Iraq said that two armed drones targeted the Ain al-Asad airbase in the west of the country.

Satellite image of Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base where US forces are stationed. (Source: AFP)

Reuters news agency said Ain al-Asad Air Base is home to US and other international forces. Sources said there were no reports of casualties.

According to an Iraqi military officer, before the incident, US helicopters appeared in the airspace of this base and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, Iraqi forces increased their vigilance.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack, the first in five months, comes at a sensitive time as the US prepares for high-level talks on its presence in Iraq.

“This is a pressure tactic to shape the conditions ahead of next week’s US-Iraq talks in Washington on the coalition’s presence in the Middle East country,” Charles Lister, director of the Syria, counterterrorism and extremism programme at the US Middle East Institute, told The National .

Since the conflict between the Hamas Islamist movement and Israel in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, an armed group called "Islamic Resistance" in Iraq has frequently carried out missile and drone attacks targeting military bases with US forces stationed in Iraq and Syria.

In January, 15 missiles also targeted the Ain al-Asad military base, including two that hit the base.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/giua-thoi-diem-nhay-cam-can-cu-khong-quan-iraq-co-luc-luong-my-don-tru-bi-tan-cong-278987.html