Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP 10:50 p.m., January 20, 2024

A military base housing American soldiers and other troops from the international anti-jihadist coalition was the target of around ten missiles in western Iraq.

The attacks were claimed in a statement by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”.

Around ten missiles were fired on Saturday in western Iraq against a military base housing American soldiers and other troops from the international anti-jihadist coalition, an Iraqi police official and an American soldier told AFP. .

“The Ain al-Assad base was targeted by 15 rockets” fired from the province of al-Anbar, where this Iraqi military base is located, a police official in the region told AFP, 'speaking on condition of anonymity.

He claimed that 13 of the projectiles were shot down by the anti-aircraft defense while "two fell in the airbase".

For his part, an American military official confirmed that "missiles" had "hit the Ain al-Assad air base", ensuring "that an initial assessment of the damage" was underway, carried out jointly by American forces, those of the international coalition and Iraqi officers.

An explosive regional context

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he also reported "preliminary" reports of "a member of the Iraqi security forces seriously injured."

He was not immediately able to confirm the type of ammunition used, after initially mentioning "ballistic missiles".

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The attacks were claimed in a press release by the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq", a network of fighters from pro-Iran armed groups, who have already carried out dozens of strikes against the anti-jihadist coalition since mid-October.

Saturday's shootings come in an explosive regional context, fueled by the repercussions of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel, an ally of the United States, and the terrorist movement Hamas, supported by Iran.

Iranian fire against autonomous Kurdistan in northern Iraq

On Saturday, five members of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, were killed in a strike in Damascus blamed on Israel by Tehran, which threatened reprisals.

Already on Monday evening, Iran launched ballistic missile attacks against autonomous Kurdistan in northern Iraq, claiming to have targeted a site used by "spies of the Zionist regime (Mossad)".

Between October 17 and January 17, at least 140 drone, rocket and short-range ballistic missile attacks targeted the anti-jihadist coalition mobilized against the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, according to a US Defense official. .