Drone attack targets US-led anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq

Three drones on Tuesday targeted a military base at Arbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan that plays host to troops from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition, local officials said.

On Tuesday morning, "at two different points, three drones attacked the international coalition", the anti-terrorism service of the autonomous region of Kurdistan said in a statement.

In the first attack "on the military base at Arbil airport, two drones were shot down", the service said.

Subsequently, a third drone crashed to the ground without exploding, it said.

An official in the US Department of Defense told AFP under condition of anonymity that the attack had led to "no casualties or damage to infrastructure, according to the latest reporting".

Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last month, a series of rocket and drone attacks have targeted military bases hosting US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.

Since October 17, US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria had been targeted by drone or rocket attacks 38 times, injuring 45 US personnel, according to the Pentagon.

Tuesday's attack on a base "at Arbil airport" was claimed by a group known as "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" on Telegram channels affiliated with Iraqi factions close to Tehran. The same group has claimed most of the recent attacks.

In a visit to Baghdad on Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attacks, which Washington has linked back to Iran, were "totally unacceptable".

Some 2,500 American troops are deployed in Iraq and another 900 in Syria, as part of the international anti-jihadist coalition that was established in 2014.

In Iraq, the coalition says its role is limited to advising and supporting local counterparts.

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