US defence system thwarts drone attack at Iraqi base as tensions rise
US defence systems shot down an armed drone over Ain Al Assad airbase in western Iraq.
The base hosts forces including American and Iraqi personnel and has been a target of militia attacks following the outbreak of the Gaza war.
No damage was reported at the base after the drone was shot down, Iraqi government sources told Reuters.
It happened after a drone was shot down on Sunday over Erbil airport in northern Iraq where US and other international forces are stationed.
It is one of many drone and rocket attacks initiated by Iranbacked groups in recent weeks.
The war in Gaza has caused the deaths of more than 21,800 people, after Hamas launched an attack on Israel that claimed about 1,200 lives.
The militias, which analysts say are front organisations for Iran-backed and Iraqi-funded groups Asaib Ahl Al Haq, Harakat Al Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, operate under an umbrella organisation called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Tensions between the militias and the US have increased after Washington ordered retaliatory air strikes against the groups, with clashes flaring since the US withdrew the bulk of its troops in 2011.
Authorities in the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region said on Sunday that two drones struck a military base used by its security forces.
It blamed the attack on “outlaws” it said were funded by Baghdad. The attack on the base in Erbil caused some damage but no casualties, the regional government said.
The region’s Peshmerga forces are allies of the US-led antiISIS coalition in Iraq, which comprised several thousand international troops.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
US military officials said there had been 106 attacks against its troops in Iraq and Syria since October 17.