US Embassy, Ain al-Asad base targeted in Iraq as militias up tension
Following the US strike on militias' bases last week, the US Embassy and Ain al-Asad base were targeted by a drone and rockets.
The US Embassy in Baghdad, in the heart of the Iraqi capital's Green Zone, was the intended target of an armed drone the night of July 6. The C-RAM defense system of the embassy was able to bring it down before an attack.
Just hours before, Ain al-Asad base in Anbar province of western Iraq was hit by three rockets. The attack left no casualities.
The drone was launched from a residential area near the airport in Baghdad. This is the first time that militias have used a public place for launching an attack against US sites.
This comes a few days after US airstrikes were carried out against targets belonging to Iran-backed militias along the Iraqi border with Syria. The airstrikes — targeting two sites in Syria and one in Iraq just before dawn June 28 — left several militia members dead and came in response to continued attacks by the militias against US bases and convoys.
