Iran-linked attacks on US forces in Syria rekindle Iraq border concerns
Tit-for-tat attacks by US and Iran-linked forces in eastern Syria have raised regional tension levels and questions about Iraq’s control of its western border and an area long controlled by Kataib Hezbollah in the center of the country.
BAGHDAD — The stepped-up targeting of bases in eastern Syria by Iran-linked militias consisting mainly of Iraqi nationals has raised alarms once again about the country’s borders.
Continuing cross-border movement of men and weapons by Iraqi armed groups linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has long been of concern but relatively little has been done to stop it for various political reasons.
An Aug. 24 press release from US Central Command stated, “US forces responded today to rocket attacks at two sites in Syria, destroying three vehicles and equipment used to launch some of the rockets.”
The attacks, it noted, had begun “at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time in Syria when several rockets landed inside the perimeter of Mission Support Site Conoco in northeast Syria. Shortly after, additional rockets landed in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Green Village.”
