News Brief: A pre-emptive US attack in Iraq

                                         MQ-9 Reaper over Nevada, 2023. Photo: Victoria Nuzzi, US Air Force.
 

The US warded off an air attack by an Iranian-linked militia in north central Iraq, near Kirkuk, yesterday by launching a drone, probably an MQ-9 Reaper, with a Hellfire missile, apparently with militia casualties. A pre-emptive American attack is unusual in Iraq, because the US is there at the invitation of Baghdad. The government might view American attacks as violating its sovereignty. But Iranian-linked militias have political pull in Baghdad. The thwarted attack was the work of Harakat al-Nujaba, funded but not directed by the Iraqi government. Akram ‘Abbas al-Kabi founded the group in 2013.  The US State Department tagged HAN and al-Kabi as terrorist in 2019.

Militias have attacked US posts in Syria and Iraq at least 76 times since October 17, or 10 days after a Hamas massacre of Israelis led to war. The umbrella group claiming the largest number of these militia attacks is the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, probably a social media moniker for Iran.

HAN is typical of the Iranian flavor of these militias. “HAN has openly pledged its loyalties to Iran and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei,” writes the State Department. “Al-Kabi has publicly claimed that he would follow any order…if Ayatollah Khamenei declare it to be a religious duty.” Al-Kabi said Iran backed HAN “militarily and logistically,” noted the State Department.

Also yesterday, for about seven hours, Houthis forces shot drones and ballistic missiles towards the USS Carney, which is a guided-missile destroyer, and three commercial vessels, said US Central Command. The Carney shot down at least two drones, one in self-defense. The Houthis say they will keep attacking in the Red Sea and elsewhere as long as Israel wars on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the terrorists Hamas.

These attacks follow Israeli air strikes two days ago that killed two officers of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and two members of Lebanon Hezbollah, near Damascus.  Iran is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has fought a civil war since 2011. Iran maintains several military sites in Syria, partly to arm the militias that attack US posts. – Leon Taylor, Baltimore, tayloralmaty@gmail.com

 

Notes

For helpful comments, I thank but do not implicate Annabel Benson.

 

References

 Chris Gordon. US drone thwarts militia attack on American troops in Iraq. Air & Space Forces Magazine.  US Drone Thwarts Militia Attack on American Troops in Iraq (airandspaceforces.com) December 3, 2023.

US Central Command. Message. X [twitter.com]. December 3, 2023.

US Department of State. State Department terrorist designation of Harakat al-Nujaba and Akram ‘Abbas al-Kabi. March 5, 2019.