US calls on Iraq to safeguard US troops after new attacks
After a failed attack by a militia aligned with Iran, the U.S. Military called on Iraqi government to take measures to protect American troops in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday.
The drone and rocket attacks were the first of their kind since the near three-month break in almost daily attacks, which culminated with the death of three U.S. troops at the Tower 22 outpost outside Jordan in January.
A senior Iranian commander called for the halt of attacks by militias at the end January, as tensions between the U.S. and Iran were rising after the Jordanian attack.
Air Force Major-General Patrick Ryder did not speculate on what caused the renewed attacks in his speech at the Pentagon. He did, however, call on Baghdad’s leadership to take action.
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These attacks place coalition personnel and Iraqi personnel in danger. Ryder said that the U.S. military in Iraq and Syria is at risk from attacks by these groups.
If these attacks continue, our forces will defend themselves as they have in the past.
U.S. troops are in Iraq with 2,500 and in Syria’s eastern provinces with 900 on a mission of advise-and assist.
The United States assisted Israel in shooting down a wave of Iranian missiles and drones fired by Tehran on April 14, in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic facility located in Syria, which took place in April 1.
Washington has in the past blamed Iran for funding and directing a militia in Iraq or Syria to attack U.S. troops.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met with President Joe Biden in early October to try and turn a page in U.S.-Iraqi Relations despite escalating regional tensions.
In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein. They retreated in 2011, but returned in 2014 as the leader of a multinational military coalition to assist the Baghdad Government in fighting the Islamic State insurgents.
