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Roughly 40,000 American troops are stationed across the Middle East, mostly in countries with close ties to the United States. There were more than 160,000 American troops in Iraq alone in 2007, during the war that followed the U.S. invasion. Image Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq in 2019. Credit... Nasser Nasser/Associated PressWhy are so many troops there? A military coalition led by the United States, including forces in Syria and Iraq, defeated it. President Biden has retaliated with attacks on Iran-aligned militants, hitting groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Persons: Jan, Al, Nasser Nasser, Biden, Israel —, Al Tanf, ” Gen, Hossein Organizations: U.S, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base, Hezbollah, Army, Air Force, Washington, Operations, Navy’s, U.S . Central Command, Associated, Islamic, U.S ., Pentagon, ”, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps Locations: Jordan, Iraq, United States, State, U.S, Al Asad Air, Iraq’s, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Azraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Gaza, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia, China, American, Islamic State, Mosul, Raqqa, Israel, Yemen

☆ Widening Mideast Crisis U.S. Blames Iran-Backed Militia for Deaths of 3 Soldiers in Jordan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The attack happened at a remote logistics outpost in northeast Jordan called Tower 22 where the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan converge. The Pentagon declined to identify the service members who died or their units pending notification of family members. Central Command said it expected the number of injured to “fluctuate” as additional service members sought treatment. It was the latest in at least 164 strikes by Iran-backed militias against U.S. troops in Syria, Iraq and Jordan since the Oct. 7 attacks. It turned out to be a dud, but several service members would most likely have been injured or killed had it exploded, a senior military official said.

Persons: Biden, —, Mr, “, ”, Lloyd J, Austin III, ” Mr, Austin, Yemen —, Gen, Charles Q, Brown Jr, General Brown, Al, Charles Lister, Jordan, Al Tanf, Syria’s, Roger Wicker of Organizations: U.S, Hamas, ”, Pentagon, Command, Central Command, Resistance, Hezbollah, Joint Chiefs of Staff, ABC, Navy, Sunday, Army, Air Force, United, Operations, Middle East Institute, American, Troops, The Defense Department, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base, Congressional Republicans, Republican, Armed Services Committee Locations: Jordan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, U.S, Israel, Columbia, United States, Lebanese, Yemen, Aden, Gaza, Erbil, Red, Al Tanf, Islamic State, Azraq, Washington, Jordanian, Baghdad, Damascus, Tehran, Lebanon, Al, Al Asad Air, Roger Wicker of Mississippi

☆ Drone Strike Kills 3 U.S. Soldiers in Jordan, White House Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Vivek Shankar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The attack happened at a small outpost in northeast Jordan called Tower 22 near the Syria border where the troops were based. Other details were not immediately available from the Pentagon’s Central Command, which issued an initial bare-bones statement on Sunday. In 2016, the American military turned Al Tanf into a small base. The Rukban refugee camp, with some 8,000 residents, is near both Al Tanf and Tower 22. Troops at Al Tanf have come under fire before from Iran-backed militias.

Persons: Biden, —, Mr, Al, Al Tanf, Syria’s, Alissa J, Rubin Organizations: U.S, Pentagon’s, Command, Resistance, Hezbollah, United, Operations, Pentagon, Navy, Sunday, American, Troops, The Defense Department, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base Locations: Jordan, Iran, Gaza, Syria, Israel, Iraq, ”, Iranian, Lebanese, Yemen, Aden, United States, Azraq, Al Tanf, Islamic State, Red, U.S, Baghdad, Damascus, Tehran, Lebanon, Al, Al Asad Air

☆ U.S. Strikes 3 Sites in Iraq Linked to Militias Blamed for Base Attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Eric Schmitt | More About Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The United States on Tuesday carried out military strikes against three facilities in western Iraq associated with Iran-linked militias that American officials say attacked a major base in Iraq on Saturday, according to the Pentagon’s Central Command, injuring at least four U.S. service members. “These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement. The attack against Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on Saturday was the latest and the most serious of about 151 such rocket and missile strikes directed at U.S. troops based in Iraq and Syria since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza started. Al Asad Air Base, in Iraq’s western desert, is now primarily used by Iraqi forces but still has a U.S. contingent. At least 83 U.S. personnel have suffered injuries in the attacks by militias in Syria and Iraq, including traumatic brain injuries.

Persons: Lloyd J, Austin III, Biden, Austin, Biden “ Organizations: Pentagon’s, Command, Central Command, U.S, ”, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base, Pentagon, Houthi Locations: States, Iraq, Iran, Iraq’s, Syria, Iranian, Al Asad Air, Gaza, United States, Britain, Yemen, Al, U.S, Kurdish Syrian, Islamic State

☆ U.S. Strikes Iranian-Linked Targets in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Eric Schmitt | More About Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

The targets represent a significant escalation in striking facilities used by Iran’s own forces in the region, not just the militias in Iraq and Syria that it helps arm and train. “These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria,” Mr. Austin said. Since Oct. 17, Iran-backed militia have carried out at least 12 rocket or one-way attack drone strikes against U.S. troops in Iraq and at least four attacks in Syria, Brig. There are 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria, mainly helping local allies conduct counterterrorism missions against the Islamic State. “I believe there is concern that our bases in Syria and Iraq, especially Syria, could be attacked by a wave of drones and it could overwhelm the defenses currently there,” Mick Mulroy, a former defense official and retired C.I.A.

Persons: Biden, Lloyd J, Austin III, Mr, Austin, ” Mr, “, Patrick S, Ryder, ” Mick Mulroy, General Ryder, Al Asad, we’ve, ” Organizations: Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, American, U.S, ”, Hamas, U.S ., Pentagon, Iran, The Defense Department, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base, Islamic Locations: States, Syria, Iraq, Iran, East, U.S, Iranian, United States, Israel, Lebanon, Persian, Erbil, Al Asad Air, Brig, Islamic State

The incidents underscored the risks that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas could spiral into a wider war. Israel has responded to the Hamas attacks with airstrikes and a “complete siege” of Gaza, which the group controls. About 200 American troops are stationed at Al Tanf, whose main role is training Syrian militias to fight the Islamic State. There were unconfirmed reports on social media of additional drone attacks in Syria late Thursday. “Clearly, this is an uptick in terms of the types of drone activity we’ve seen in Iraq and Syria,” General Ryder said.

Persons: “, ”, Patrick Ryder, General Ryder, Biden, Gholamhossein Gheybparvar, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ” General Ryder, Al Tanf, Al Asad Organizations: U.S . Navy, Navy, Pentagon, Palestinian, Military, Senior Biden, American, Hamas, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran’s, Guards, Al, ”, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base, military’s, Command Locations: U.S, Yemen, Israel, ” Brig, Iranian, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Gaza, United States, Lebanon, Houthis, Syrian, Al, State, Al Asad Air

☆ U.S. says it thwarted drone attack on its troops in Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

TEL AVIV, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. military thwarted an attack targeting its forces in Iraq early on Wednesday, intercepting two drones before they could strike, two U.S. officials said after the first such attack on U.S. forces in Iraq in more than a year. The one-way attack drones were intercepted as they attempted to strike Iraq's al Asad air base, which hosts American troops, the officials said. Last week he threatened to target U.S. interests if Washington intervened to support Israel. Dozens of members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), the state paramilitary organisation that contains many Iran-backed factions, took to the streets on Tuesday to condemn the hospital attack. Demonstrators chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans and said they wanted to storm the U.S. embassy for its support of Israel.

Persons: Iraq's al Asad, Joe Biden, Israel, Ali al, Hadi Al, Amiri, Washington, Kataib, Phil Stewart, Amina Ismail, Ahmed Rasheed, Ahmed Saad, Clarence Fernandez, Nick Macfie Organizations: U.S, Reuters, American, Hamas, Islamic, Israel, Hezbollah, United, Popular, Forces, ., Thomson Locations: TEL AVIV, Iraq, U.S, Washington, Iran, Israel, Gaza, Al, Ahli, Israeli, United States, Iraqi, Badr, America, Syria, State, Baghdad, Tel Aviv, Erbil

☆ A massive Iranian missile attack on a US base offered a glimpse of the long-lasting injuries US troops will face in a war with Russia or China
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In January 2020, Iran fired nearly a dozen ballistic missiles at an Iraqi base housing US troops. The hundreds of US troops at the base experienced what has been described as "the largest ballistic attack against Americans in history." The troops only received a few hours of warning, and the base had no air defenses capable of intercepting the missiles. US soldiers inspect damage from Iranian missiles at Al Asad air base on January 13, 2020. The Al Asad attack was a relatively small-scale demonstration of the lethal dangers that US troops will face on the battlefields of the future.

Persons: Qassem, Al Asad, Saddam Hussein, John Davison, Robert Hales, TBIs, Sarah Mattison, Kenneth McKenzie, McKenzie, Paul Iddon Organizations: Service, Reuters, US, American College of Surgeons, Iranian, Anadolu Agency, Getty, US Air National Guard / Tech, Marine Corps, Senate Armed Services Committee, US Central Command Locations: Iran, Wall, Silicon, Iranian, Iraq, Baghdad, Erbil, Al, Handout, Ukraine, Vermont

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