Armed Iraqi factions announced last night, Saturday, that they targeted an American base at Erbil Airport in Iraq with a drone, claiming that the drone "hit its target directly." The factions explained on Telegram that the attack comes "in response to the crimes committed by Israel... in Gaza." Recently, armed Iraqi factions have been launching attacks on American targets in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded that the Iraqi government fulfill its commitments to protect all facilities housing American personnel and to pursue those responsible for attacking Americans in Iraq. The U.S. State Department stated in a release on Friday evening that Blinken spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia' al-Sudani, discussing the confrontation between Israel and Hamas and the need to prevent the conflict from spreading.
The statement also noted that Blinken addressed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the cooperation with Iraq and other regional partners to determine steps that can be taken to lay the groundwork for a fair and lasting peace. For his part, the Iraqi Prime Minister warned Washington against any "attack" on Iraqi territory.
In late November, the United States struck twice against fighters from Iranian-backed Iraqi factions in response to attacks launched by those groups on U.S. forces and coalition forces fighting ISIS in Iraq and neighboring Syria. These attacks had stopped during a ceasefire last week between the Israeli army and Hamas, which ended on Friday.
