News - Middle East: Unmanned aerial vehicles have twice targeted a major base in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, where US military forces and trainers are stationed, amid simmering anti-US sentiment over Washington’s support for the Israeli air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, in separate statements published on its Telegram channel claimed responsibility for the two attacks on al-Harir Air Base, situated 45 kilometers (27.9 miles) north of the Erbil International Airport, on Wednesday.

It said the base was targeted by combat drones and that the missiles “directly hit their targets.”

The group noted that the drone strikes were carried out in retaliation for US support of Israel’s bloody war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

There were no immediate reports about the extent of damage at the military facility, or possible casualties.

The United States, Israel’s biggest ally, has provided the regime with arms and ammunitions since the initiation of the Gaza war.

The US House of Representatives on November 2 passed a standalone $14.3-billion military assistance package for Israel. The legislation, however, is yet to clear the Senate. 

Washington has also vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions that called on the occupying regime to cease its aggression.

Defense Department deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh said during a media briefing on Tuesday that “US forces have been attacked approximately 66 times since October 17. Thirty-two separate times in Iraq and 34 separate times in Syria.”

She added that US personnel have sustained approximately 62 injuries in these attacks, noting that the number of injuries does not include those sustained during the Monday night attack.

Earlier this month, Abu Alaa al-Walaei, secretary general of the Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada anti-terror resistance group, emphasized that retaliatory assaults by Iraqi resistance fighters on American occupation forces will continue unabated.

He said the strikes on US military positions in Iraq will stop only when the Israeli strikes on Gaza end, and humanitarian aid convoys reach locals in the besieged Palestinian coastal territory without any restrictions.

The general secretary of the Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada group also said the Islamic Resistance in Iraq will firmly stand by the Palestinian nation and its resistance fighters.

Source: Press TV