Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Two drone attacks (drones) separately targeted United States (US) military forces in Iraq on Wednesday (18/10/2023) local time.

A US official described one attack drones has caused minor injuries to a small number of soldiers, although the US military managed to intercept the armed drone.

According to two US officials, the first attack on Wednesday morning involved two drones one direction targeting al-Asad base. One of drones was successfully intercepted but still managed to explode, causing minor injuries and damaging some equipment.

“Several US soldiers are being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injuries,” one of the officials was quoted as saying Reuters.

The second drone strike targeted al-Harir air base, which hosts US troops in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. This was conveyed by US officials, an Iraqi security official and a Western diplomat.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say who was suspected of carrying out the attacks on al-Asad air base and al-Harir air base. But Washington has become increasingly wary of the activities of Iran-backed groups as regional tensions escalated during the Israel-Hamas war.

Meanwhile the Iraqi Kurdistan region’s semi-autonomous security agency, Kurdistan Counter Terrorism, said the armed drone in the second incident crashed in a desert area near the village of Batas in the Harir district at 12:18 pm Iraqi time. The statement did not elaborate.

A little-known group called Tashkil al-Waritheen, or the Heirs, claimed responsibility for the attack on al-Harir.

Last week, Iraqi armed groups allied with Iran threatened to target US interests with missiles and drones if Washington intervened to support Israel against Hamas in Gaza.

The Pentagon has sent air defenses and ammunition to Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East, but US troops have not yet joined the fight.

The attacks came less than a day after an explosion at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of Palestinians. This raises the stakes for US President Joe Biden when he arrives in Israel on Wednesday to signal support for the fight against Hamas.

The US has 2,500 troops in Iraq, and another 900 in neighboring Syria, with the mission of advising and assisting local forces in the fight against ISIS, which in 2014 seized large swaths of territory in both countries.

In recent years, Iran-backed militias in Iraq have routinely targeted US troops in Iraq and the US embassy in Baghdad with rockets. Such attacks have subsided under a ceasefire in place since last year, and Iraq is in a period of relative calm.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(luc/luc)