Iran-Backed Terror Groups Target US Forces, Embassy

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BAGHDAD/TEHRAN/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Iran-backed terror groups have stepped up attacks against American forces and diplomats in the Middle East over Washington’s backing of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, U.S. officials say.

The U.S. military confirmed that the weekend violence, including rare strikes targeting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, brought to more than 80 attacks against U.S. interests in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.

The U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad was struck with seven mortar rounds on Friday, and U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria were hit at least five more times with rockets and drones, officials said.

Separate bases in Syria were attacked three times, and the Ain al-Asad airbase west of Baghdad was targeted twice, the U.S. military confirmed.

It was the highest number of attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East region in a single day since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Officials said it was also the first time in more than a year that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad was targeted.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took responsibility for the attacks, in which there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Islamic Resistance in Iraq is an umbrella term for Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq—Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhadaa.

CLAIMING ATTACK

Kata’ib Hezbollah claimed the U.S. embassy compound attack. The group’s spokesman, Abu Ali Alaskri, declared that the rules of engagement against U.S. forces had changed, adding that terror operations would continue until a complete withdrawal of coalition forces.

He also called the U.S. embassy compound a “station for espionage and intelligence.”

The attack was condemned by the United States and by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who said it was “an act of terrorism” against a diplomatic mission.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a Friday call with Sudani, singled out KH and another group, Haraket Hezbollah al-Nujaba, for the recent targeting of U.S. personnel.

He warned that the U.S. reserved its right to respond.

Besides diplomatic staff in Iraq, the United States has about 2,500 troops in the country on a mission it says aims to advise and assist local forces battling remnants of Islamic State.

That group seized large swathes of both Iraq and Syria in 2014 before being defeated, though fighters remain active on a more limited scale.

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