The United States prefers to work with Iraq to stop recurring attacks on American troops stationed in Iraq and Syria, US State Department No. 2 Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday during a visit to Baghdad.
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Fears of a regional conflagration fueled by the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas are highlighted by the fact that dozens of attacks have been carried out on American soldiers and the forces of an international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria since mid-October have taken place.
Most of these drone strikes or rocket attacks were claimed by the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a coalition of fighters from several pro-Iran armed groups – also linked to Hachd al-Chaabi, former paramilitaries integrated into the regular armed forces.
“These attacks are not only directed against the USA: we are guests here, we do not have our own facilities. “These are attacks on Iraqi facilities and they pose a threat to Iraqi sovereignty,” Ms. Nuland stressed during a meeting with journalists in Baghdad.
She spoke after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Chia al-Soudani.
“We had a good conversation today about how we can increase our cooperation to stop these attacks: not just in Iraq, but also from Iraq to interests in Syria, and how we can achieve that together,” he said. She clarified.
She noted that her country's “preference” – shared by the authorities in Baghdad – is that “Iraq and the Iraqi security forces are capable of dealing with this security threat.”
In retaliation for attacks on the American presence, the Pentagon has already carried out several strikes against pro-Iranian fighters in Iraq, but also in Syria against sites linked to Iran.
In total, Washington has recorded at least 102 attacks in Iraq and Syria since October 17, ten days after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
On December 8, volleys of rockets targeted the American embassy in Baghdad without causing any injuries. Iraqi authorities quickly announced arrests and ensured that certain attackers had “connections to specific security services.”
Washington has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and nearly 900 in Syria fighting with the international anti-jihadist coalition founded in 2014 against the Islamic State (IS) organization.