MEZIESBLOG

Drones target ‘two Iraqi bases’ hosting US troops 

An explosive device has targeted a joint patrol of US forces and the Iraqi counter-terrorism service near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, two security sources have told Reuters.

Approximately 50 miles east, in the city of Erbil, an armed drone targeted the al-Harir air base, which hosts US forces, but it was downed by air defences, according to security sources.

To the south, defence systems at al-Asad air base, where US forces are also based, shot down an armed drone, said two Iraqi army sources.

This comes after the US military hit a weapons storage facility in Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups.

Joe Biden had said the US would hit targets again if needed, following a wave of attacks on American and coalition troops there and in Iraq (see 16.55 post).