Iraq base attack hurts American troops

Iran-backed militants launched ballistic missiles at a base hosting United States forces in western Iraq, causing one Iraqi and possible American casualties, the US Central Command said Saturday.

“Multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched by Iranian-backed militants in western Iraq targeting al-Assad Airbase,” CENTCOM said in a social media post, which placed the time of the attack at 6:30 p.m. Baghdad time Saturday evening.

Most of the projectiles were intercepted by the base’s air defense systems but “others impacted on the base,” the statement said.

“A number of US personnel are undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries. At least one Iraqi service member was wounded,” it added.

Since mid-October, there have been dozens of attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, deployed there to fight jihadists of the Islamic State group.

Most have been claimed by “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.

The group said in a press release Saturday that it had carried out the latest attack.

Saturday’s air base attack comes amid soaring tensions in the Middle East following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October.

Five members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were also killed in a strike Saturday in Damascus that Tehran blamed on Israel, threatening reprisals.

Last Monday evening, Iran itself launched a deadly strike in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, saying it had targeted a site used by “spies of the Zionist regime (Mossad).”

Houthi missiles hit

Meanwhile, the US carried out fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels Saturday, the military said.

At around 4 a.m. Sanaa time, US “forces conducted airstrikes against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Gulf of Aden and was prepared to launch,” a statement from CENTCOM said Saturday.

“US forces determined the missile presented a threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region, and subsequently struck and destroyed the missile in self-defense.”

“This action will make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy and merchant vessels,” the statement said.

The Houthis began striking Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza. They subsequently declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.

Saturday’s operation marks the fifth round of strikes by the US on the rebel group in recent weeks.

Dozens of sites in Yemen have been hit, including a Houthi radar site and missiles Washington says posed a threat to civilian and military vessels.

Washington is seeking to reduce the Iran-backed Houthis’ military capabilities, but the Yemeni rebels have continued their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, despite more than a week of strikes, and have vowed to keep targeting merchant vessels.