SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s air defenses shot down an unidentified drone approaching Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, the Iraqi military said on Thursday.
The drone was brought down outside the base, the security media cell said.
Meanwhile, a Coalition official confirmed the attack, saying “US Defensive countermeasures engaged 1x ‘suicide drone’ at Ain Al Asad base” hosting U.S. troops, BBC reporter Nafiseh Kohnavard cited him as saying.
It was the fifth attack against the U.S.-led Coalition troops in Iraq this week. On Wednesday, five rockets landed the Ain al-Asad air base, leaving no casualties.
The closest impact was around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the base, a Coalition official told Reuters.
Earlier in the day, Katyusha rockets hit Iraqi military base housing U.S. forces near Baghdad’s airport.
Wednesday’s attack is the second one this week targeting the base near Baghdad’s international airport after an attack by two drones was foiled on Monday.
The attacks near Ain al-Asad air base comes on day after two explosive-laden drones were also shot down on Tuesday by Iraq’s air defenses as they approached the Ain al-Asad air base.
U.S. officials have warned in recent weeks they expected an uptick in attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, in part because of the second anniversary of the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
While there were no immediate claims of responsibility for recent attacks, Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran vowed to retaliate for killing Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Soleimani was killed on Jan. 3, 2020 in a drone strike near Baghdad airport ordered by then-U.S. president Donald Trump.
Iraqi media cited intelligence sources as saying on Saturday that pro-Iranian militias planned to attack the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in retaliation for the drone strike that killed Soleimani and Muhandis.
Al-Arabiya channel reported that a security document of the Iraqi intelligence revealed the “existence of a plot by pro-Iranian militias to target the U.S. embassy with missiles” in retaliation of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis.
Separately, the U.S.-led coalition said its forces had been targeted with eight rounds at the Green Village in Syria over the past 24 hours and while there were no casualties, the attack did cause minor damage.
“The Iran-supported malign actors fired on the Coalition and SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) from within civilian infrastructure with no regard for civilian safety,” the coalition said in a statement.
The statement added that the coalition responded by firing six artillery rounds and had earlier carried additional strikes.
