WASHINGTON (AP) — Militants targeted the U.S. military base in Irbil, Iraq, overnight and again Tuesday morning, but caused no injuries to personnel or damage to the infrastructure, a U.S. defense official said.
The Islamic Resistance, an umbrella organization of Iran-backed Iraqi militant groups, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying their drones hit their target, without giving any further details.
The overnight attack on Irbil airbase near the city’s commercial airport was a multi-drone attack. Tuesday morning's attack was with a single drone, said the defense official, who was not authorized to discuss the strikes and spoke on condition of anonymity. Commercial flights were briefly suspended following the strikes.
The strikes are part of an ongoing string of attacks in recent weeks by the Iran-backed militants on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria, in light of Washington’s support of Israel in the ongoing Hamas-Israel war in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The attacks bring the total number of strikes on U.S. and coalition facilities in Iraq and Syria to at least 40 since Oct. 17.
The Islamic Resistance also claimed responsibility for other attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, including a drone attack on Al-Harir in Irbil province, and on the Green Village base in eastern Syria. The U.S. defense official said there were no reports of attacks at Al Harir.