(RepublicanDaily.org) – Two American bases in Iraq were targeted by bomb drones recently, but only sustained minor damage after American troops managed to intercept the drones and shoot them down.
A number of personnel on the bases – the U.S.’ al Asad and al Harir air bases – also sustained injuries and were being examined for possible traumatic brain injuries.
The drones were believed to have been launched by small off-shoot Muslim extremist military forces based in Iraq who are sympathetic to Hamas. A group called the Tashkil al-Waritheen or the “Inheritor,” claimed responsibility for one of the drone attacks.
American military managed to shoot down two drones headed to the al Asad base, but one still managed to hit a hangar. The drone targeting al Harir was less successful, falling short of its target and crashing in a nearby desert area.
Other U.S. installations in the region have also been targeted by drone strikes – America has around 2,000 troops stationed in Iraq to help support Iraqi forces and another 900 in Syria as part of a long-term offensive alongside the Syrian Democratic forces against the Islamic State.
U.S. military reported intercepting several UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) believed to be headed towards the Al Tanf base located in the southern region of Syria and Conoco base which is in the northern Deir al-Zor region of the country.
The attacks come amid continued military offensives between Israel forces and Palestinian-aligned Hamas, after the latter’s devastating terrorist attack on the Jewish state on October 7 that left more than a thousand dead. More than 2,500 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory strikes, according to Palestinian officials.
Israel has also reportedly bombed a hospital in the Gaza strip, killing as many as 500 Palestinians, many of them children. However, Israel has denied responsibility for the strike, saying that the hospital was hit by a misfired rocket fired by Islamic Jihad, a smaller jihadist Palestinian military group that is allied with Hamas.
Though Iraq’s attack was originally thwarted, another drone strike did injure several US troops on October 19th.
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