Global US-led coalition under fire in Syria and Iraq

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) group came under fire Wednesday in Iraq and Syria but reported no casualties.

The surge of attacks targeting bases used by the coalition comes as Tehran and its Middle East allies held commemorations marking the second anniversary of the elimination of Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport.

“Our coalition continues to see threats against our forces in Iraq and Syria by militia groups that are backed by Iran,” coalition chief Maj. Gen. John W. Brennan, Jr. said in a statement quoted by AFP.

On Wednesday, five rockets targeted an air base used by the coalition in western Iraq.

“We observed five rounds… the closest impact was two kilometers (1.2 miles) away,” a coalition official said. “No damage, no casualties.”

The rockets landed near the Ain Al-Asad air base in the desert of Iraq’s Al-Anbar province. The same base was targeted on Tuesday, when US-led coalition forces shot down two armed drones.

Meanwhile in Syria, the coalition said one of its bases in the northeast of the country had come under fire.

“Coalition forces were targeted this morning by eight rounds of indirect fire at Green Village” base, a coalition statement said, according to AFP.

“The attack did not cause any casualties, but several rounds impacted inside the coalition base and caused minor damage.”

Rocket attacks have regularly targeted Iraqi bases as well as the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located, since the US elimination of Soleimani in January of 2020.

Last July, an explosive-laden drone attacked Erbil airport in northern Iraq. The drone reportedly targeted the US base on the airport grounds.

The incident came a day after a drone was intercepted and shot down near the US embassy in Baghdad.

Source: INN