The US-led coalition claimed Saturday that a drone assault was carried out on a military installation in Iraqi Kurdistan that houses American troops without inflicting any fatalities.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Monday to discuss a possible full US troop pullout from his nation.
In the early hours of Friday, “an unmanned aerial system struck a coalition installation in Kurdistan,” coalition spokesperson US Colonel Wayne Marotto said in a statement.
“There were no casualties and no damage as a result of the attack,” he said, adding “the United States and coalition forces will stay vigilant and maintain the inherent right to self-defense.”
According to Iraqi Kurdish media, the attack was carried out on a facility in Al-Harir, 70 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of Arbil, the autonomous Kurdistan region’s capital.
It was the latest in a string of attacks in Iraq against US military and diplomatic targets, all of which have been claimed on pro-Iranian armed groups operating inside a state-sponsored paramilitary organisation.
Out of the 3,500 personnel in the multinational coalition formed in 2014 to combat the Islamic State group, the US still retains approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq.
Pro-Iranian groups have requested their removal, blaming them for 50 assaults against US interests in Iraq since the beginning of the year.
The Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee promised to keep attacking unless the US withdrew all of its soldiers and ended the “occupation” on Friday.
Under outgoing US President Donald Trump, the majority of American soldiers in the coalition that helped destroy ISIS in Iraq in 2017 were removed.
Those that remain serve as advisors and trainers for Iraq’s army and counter-terrorism organizations.
