CNN –
U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria were attacked four times on Thanksgiving Day, according to a U.S. official.
On Thursday morning, several disposable attack drones were fired against troops at Al-Asad air base, and one disposable attack drone targeted Erbil air base in Iraq. A multi-missile attack was also launched against forces at the Euphrates mission support site in Syria. Another disposable attack drone was launched against forces at Mission Support Site Green Village in Syria on Thursday afternoon.
All four followed an attack Wednesday afternoon in which a disposable attack drone was fired at the Erbil air base, the official said.
According to the official, there were no casualties or damage to infrastructure in any of the attacks.
The latest attacks include at least 73 against U.S. and coalition troops since October 17. They also follow a US airstrike on Tuesday evening (Wednesday morning local time) on two facilities of the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah group in Iraq.
U.S. Central Command said the airstrikes were “a direct response to attacks by Iran and Iranian-backed groups on U.S. and coalition forces, including the Nov. 21 attack in Iraq that used short-range ballistic missiles.”
A defense official added that the facilities – an operations center and a command and control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, Iraq, south of Baghdad – were used by Kataib Hezbollah to “carry out recent attacks on U.S. and U.S. forces.” to support coalition bases in Iraq and Syria.” ”
At least eight Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah fighters were killed and four others wounded after the US strikes, the group said in a statement.
While the attacks were the first in Iraq since attacks on U.S. and coalition forces began, they were the fourth U.S. attack against targets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since the attacks began on October 17th.
The first attack occurred on October 26, when an F-15 fighter jet and two F-16 fighter jets attacked two arms and ammunition depots in Abu Kamal, Syria. Then on November 8, two F-15s carried out an airstrike on a weapons depot in eastern Syria. On November 12, the US conducted additional airstrikes on an IRGC training facility and safe house.
The attacks on US and coalition forces began after Hamas’ attack on Israel, and the Pentagon claimed that despite the ongoing attacks on US forces, the US managed to prevent any escalating actions that spread the conflict outside Israel and the Gaza Strip would expand.
“Is deterrence working? We feel that it is,” Singh told reporters last week. “We have not seen this war escalate into a larger regional conflict. We carried out…three separate attacks. We last responded this weekend. And again, we always reserve the right to respond in the future at a time and place of our choosing.”