US air defenses shoot down drones near Iraq air base
Drones were intercepted and brought down near the air base that hosts US forces.
![A picture taken on Jan. 13, 2020, during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State, shows a US soldier walking past a drone at the Ain al-Asad air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/2021-06/GettyImages-1193597184.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=F7cBOyEC)
US air defense systems shot down two drones near Ayn al-Asad air base shortly after midnight on Sunday, Iraq’s military said.
The encroachment, knocked down by US counter-rocket, artillery and mortar systems (C-RAM), is the latest targeting the base that houses Western military contractors and has been home to US Reaper drones used largely in operations against the Islamic State (IS).