WASHINGTON: A suspected rocket attack on Monday has injured several US personnel in Iraq, according to a Pentagon spokesperson, media reported. The attack struck Al-Asad air base in western Iraq, the official was cited as saying in the daily newspaper The Hill.
They were “conducting a post-attack damage assessment” and would share more information when it is available, the official said. “Initial indications are that several US personnel were injured”, the spokesperson said, adding that the full extent of the injuries and the exact number of affected personnel remain unclear at this time.
The attack comes in the wake of the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, which Iran has said was conducted by Israel even as Tel Aviv has not made a public statement. Iran has vowed retaliation for the killing on its soil. Hezbollah in Lebanon has also vowed retaliation on Israel after the assassination of one of its top commanders in Beirut on July 30.
US Secretary of Defence Llyod Austin on Monday spoke with with Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant to “reiterate unwavering US commitment to Israel’s security in the face of threats from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and other Iran-aligned militia groups.”
Austin and Gallant agreed that the August 5 Iran-aligned militia attack on US forces stationed at Al-Asad air base in western Iraq marked a dangerous escalation and demonstrated Iran’s destabilizing role in the region as per a Department of Defence readout of the call.
They discussed US force posture moves that the department is taking for defense and deterrence and reinforced the need to de-escalate broader tensions in the region, to include strong support for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a press briefing.
On August 3, Austin spoke to Gallant and said that the US was “taking additional measures to support the defence of Israel, to include multiple forthcoming force posture moves”. Austin also ordered additional military assets including defence-capable cruisers and destroyers and a fighter sqardon to the US European Command and US Central Command regions in West Asia.
The Pentagon is also “taking steps to increase our [US] readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defence. West Coast carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is setting sail to the West Asian region from the Pacific to relieve the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and its strike group.
“To maintain a carrier strike group presence in the Middle East, the Secretary has ordered the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, currently on deployment in the Central Command area of responsibility”, a Pentagon statement read.
In a August 5 briefing, Sabrina Singh said “..as we did say on Friday, we are positioning assets to move closer to Israel should we need to come to the defense of Israel, so you should, you know, assume that she’ll be moving closer to that direction”. (ANI)