Two more attacks on US troops in Iraq in past 24 hours, says defence official

US forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked 40 times since mid-October

US troops on patrol in north-eastern Syria, close to the border with Turkey. There are about 900 American troops in Syria. AFP

American forces in Iraq were hit with two more attacks in the past 24 hours, a Defence Department official confirmed to The National on Tuesday, as Washington blames Iran-backed forces for a surge in violence against its troops since mid-October.

Neither of the attacks resulted in any casualties, the official added.

“Most of these attacks were successfully disrupted by our military. Most failed to reach their targets, thanks to our robust defences,” the official said.

This brings the total number of attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria to 40 since mid-October, with 22 in Iraq and 18 in Syria so far.

“None of the drones from the last two attacks reached their intended targets … We know from open-source and official reporting some of the attacks have caused some damage and casualties, but most of these attacks have either been thwarted by our defences or have failed,” the official added.

The defence official did not confirm who had launched the Tuesday attacks, but Washington has blamed the surge in strikes attacks on Iran-backed forces.

American warplanes carried out strikes in late October against sites in Syria that the Pentagon said were linked to Tehran.

Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder on Monday told reporters that the “harassing attacks” have caused 45 injuries to American personnel, all of them occurring before the US strikes in Syria that were carried out on October 26.

The surge in attacks on US troops is linked to the war between Israel and Hamas, which began when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people.

In response, the Israeli military has killed more than 10,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, in a relentless air, land and naval assault on the Palestinian territory.

"While we are seeing an uptick in attacks, our purpose is to ensure that this conflict doesn't widen out beyond Israel," Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, said on Tuesday.

There are about 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of ISIS, which once held significant territory in both countries but was pushed back by local ground forces supported by international air strikes.