The flags of Iraq and the United States are placed on the table during a meeting with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meets and Iraqi Defense Minister Muhammad Al-Abbasi at the Pentagon, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)
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WASHINGTON — Five U.S. service members and two contractors were injured when two rockets hit a military base in Iraq, U.S. officials said Tuesday, providing a bit more detail about the Monday strike.
The officials said five of those injured were being treated at the al-Asad airbase and two were evacuated, but all seven are in stable condition. They did not provide details on who was evacuated.
The rocket attack is the latest in what has been an uptick in strikes on U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militias. It comes as tensions across the Middle East are spiking but is not believed to be connected to the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran, in suspected Israeli strikes. Both groups are backed by Iran.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
Related Story: A Rocket Attack at an Iraqi Military Base Injures US Personnel, Officials Tell ...
In recent weeks, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have resumed launching attacks on bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria after a lull of several months, following a strike on a base in Jordan in late January that killed three American soldiers and prompted a series of retaliatory U.S. strikes.
Between October and January, an umbrella group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq had regularly claimed attacks that it said were in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and were aimed at pushing U.S. troops out of the region.
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