Drone strikes on US bases as attacks on Gaza escalate

On 18 October, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that there had been two separate drone attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq in the past 24 hours. In the first incident, two drones targeted al-Asad Air Base; one was shot down and the other damaged. Several coalition personnel were injured. In the second incident, a drone was destroyed near al-Harir airbase.

Two other attacks were also reported in Syria on 19 October. Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television reported a drone attack on the Al-Tanf base near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders and a missile strike on the Conoco base in the countryside of the Deir ez-Zor region. Three drones reportedly targeted the Al-Tanf base in Homs governorate. No casualties were reported, but US officials did not confirm the strikes in Syria.

Yesterday, the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government confirmed that a bomb-laden drone had crashed in an empty area in the town of al-Harir, where the US-led anti-ISIS coalition base is located. The events coincide with the escalation of attacks in Gaza, suggesting that rising tensions in the region are connected. The growing reaction against Israel’s allies, the US and the West, could lead to further attacks. It is therefore likely that security will be tightened in places where future attacks are expected to take place.