US-led forces down Iranian drones in Iraq amid regional escalation
BAGHDAD: Two drones launched from Iran towards Israel were shot down over Iraq by the US-led international coalition to defeat the Islamic State group, two Iraqi military officials told AFP on Sunday.
"The international coalition at Ain al-Asad (military base) shot down two Iranian drones that were en route to Israel," one official said, referring to an Iraqi airbase housing foreign troops in western Iraq.
The drones were shot down overnight Saturday to Sunday, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
The other official said the drones were targeted because they entered the defensive perimeter of the anti-fighters coalition, where troops are instructed to engage any potential threat.
Israel on Friday launched unprecedented strikes on Iran, hitting military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas. In response, the Islamic republic has fired hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel.
Several missiles and drones have fallen in Iraqi territory, mostly in the desert, without causing casualties.
An "explosive drone" was shot down by the coalition at Ain al-Asad on Friday, according to an Iraqi official.
The government in Baghdad is a close ally of Tehran, but also a strategic partner of Iran's arch-foe the United States, which has some 2,500 troops in Iraq as part of the coalition.
Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the coalition's forces.
By September, the troops are scheduled to leave bases in federal Iraq – including Ain al-Asad – and by the end of 2026, they are set to withdraw from the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
Influential Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hizbollah on Sunday warned the United States about direct involvement in Israel's attack on Iran.
"The Islamic republic needs no military support from anyone to repel the criminal Zionist entity – it has the men and capabilities to put (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu in the dust," it said in a statement.
"We are closely monitoring the movements of the American enemy's army. If America intervenes in the war, we will act directly and without hesitation against its interests and bases throughout the region."--AFP
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