Washington [US], October 25: Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said on October 24 that US forces stationed in the Middle East have been attacked multiple times in the past week.
Specifically, Mr. Ryder said that between October 17 and 24, US soldiers were attacked 13 times in Iraq and 3 times in Syria "through a combination of drones and rocket attacks." one-way", according to The Hill newspaper .
Mr. Ryder did not give an exact number of US soldiers injured in the attacks, but the Pentagon previously revealed that a US contractor died of a heart attack after a false alarm at al Asad air base. in Iraq.
Recent drone and rocket attacks have targeted US soldiers, amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict . Among them, two UAVs on October 18 targeted the al Asad base west of the capital Baghdad, with one destroyed and the other damaged. That attack left coalition force members injured and the base slightly damaged.
A few hours later, another UAV attack targeted al-Harir air base in Erbil, northern Iraq but was prevented. On the same day, an attack targeted the al Tanf base in Syria, injuring four US soldiers. On October 19, while in the northern Red Sea, the US warship USS Carney shot down 4 cruise missiles and 15 UAVs launched by Houthi forces in Yemen.
Although there is no evidence that Iran ordered the attack, US Department of Defense officials said on October 23 that the recent targeting of US soldiers has "Iran's fingerprints on it".
Officials in US President Joe Biden's administration are concerned that Iran and its proxy forces could take advantage of the Hamas-Israel conflict to open another front in the war or further destabilize the region. area, including attacking US forces, according to The Hill .
To deal with the above situation, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last weekend ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike group to a location monitored by US Central Command. This aircraft carrier strike group was transferred to the eastern Mediterranean along with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group after the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out on October 7.
In addition, Mr. Austin has arranged a number of forces to be ready to deploy orders if they need to respond to any offensive actions, while also deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and additional Patriot battalions to spread throughout the area.
Mr. Ryder on October 24 did not reveal the exact number of each type of weapon being sent or where they would be deployed, but noted that the THAAD batteries would be from Fort Bliss in Texas and Patriot battalions and batteries. from Fort Liberty in North Carolina, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
Mr. Ryder added that the US is mobilizing additional forces "to send a clear message that we will protect our forces. We will always maintain the right to self-defense. And if there is a response and choose a response accordingly, we will do so at a time and place of our choosing."
There is currently no information about Iran's reaction to the above accusations from the US side.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper