Iran-backed Iraqi militias resume attacks on US forces

American base in Syria hit by at least five rockets launched from Iraq

A protester waves the flag of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia, outside the US embassy in Baghdad. Reuters

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Iran-backed Iraqi militias on Monday announced the resumption of attacks on US forces in the region, hours after rockets were fired from Iraq at a US military base in Syria in the first such attack since early February.

A statement from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of militias that stepped up attacks on US forces stationed in Iraq and Syria after Israel launched its war in Gaza in October, confirming the resumption of attacks was posted on a Telegram channel associated with Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq's most powerful armed groups.

It said the decision to resume attacks was made after little progress in talks on the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq during Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani's visit to Washington last week.

“What happened a short while ago is the beginning,” it said, referring to the launch of five rockets from the northern Iraqi town of Zummar towards a US military base in north-eastern Syria on Sunday night.

The US State Department confirmed the attack later on Monday.

”I will say we find it troubling that this militia group chose to resume its attacks against US personnel, just hours after Prime Minister Al Sudani of Iraq had completed a successful visit,“ State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

"It seems clear that Iran has no respect for Iraqi sovereignty."

A US defence official told The National a coalition fighter on Sunday destroyed a launcher in self-defence "after reports of a failed rocket attack near the coalition base at Rumalyn, Syria”.

“No US personnel were injured,” the official added.

Iraqi security forces are conducting a search for those responsible near the Syrian border in Nineveh province, the Iraqi Security Media Cell said in a statement posted on X.

Reuters also reported that at least one armed drone was launched at the Ain Al Asad air base that hosts US troops in the province of Anbar in western Iraq, citing an unnamed US official.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced a halt to attacks on American forces after a drone killed three US military personnel and wounded dozens of others at an outpost in Jordan at the end of January. The last strike on US forces was on February 4, according to Pentagon officials.

The US holds Iran broadly responsible for arming and supporting the Iraqi militias and has singled out Kataib Hezbollah in assigning blame for the attacks on its troops.

Sources in Lebanon and Iraq told The National in March that the pause in operations was part of an unannounced truce involving Tehran and the Iraqi government.

While the Pentagon cautiously welcomed the drop-off in attacks, the US military has said it is ready to carry out more strikes against Iran-backed militias if they resume hostilities against its forces.

The US strikes against the militias on Iraqi territory have pushed the government in Baghdad to respond to long-standing calls for US forces to leave the country.

About 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq as part of an international coalition against ISIS.

On January 27, Iraq and the US held the first round of talks to end the coalition's mission, with Baghdad expecting discussions to lead to a timetable for reducing the coalition's presence and reach bilateral security agreements with partners.

Resuming the attacks on US forces comes at a time of high tension between Iran and Israel.

Israel carried out a military strike against Iranian territory on Friday, less than a week after Tehran's rocket and drone barrage retaliation for an Israeli attack on its Damascus embassy.

These are the latest escalations stoking fears of a regional war.

The US received notice of the Israeli strike but did not endorse the operation or play any part in it, NBC and CNN reported, quoting a number of sources and a US official.