In what appeared to be the largest attack of its kind in recent memory, approximately seven mortar rounds landed in the US Embassy compound in Baghdad during an attack. This is according to a US military official. The embassy attack marked the first time it had been fired on in more than a year, apparently widening the range of targets. In recent weeks, dozens of military bases, housing US forces have been attacked, increasing fears of a broadening regional conflict.
The United States strongly condemned the attacks and called on Iraq to bring the perpetrators to justice. Now, the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, and I quote, The many Iran-aligned militias that operate freely in Iraq threatened the security and stability of Iraq, our personnel, and our partners in the region. I quote, Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohamed Al-Sudani, warned that attacks on the embassies undermine the country’s security. He called on security forces to bring those responsible to justice. The UN Assistance mission for Iraq also condemned the attack and warned of reparations. They wrote on Social Media Platform X, and I quote, The UN AMI condemn this morning’s rocket attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad.
All diplomatic premises must be protected in line with international law as underscored by the Iraqi government. Now, the attacks come against a backdrop of the more than two-month war between US ally, Israel, and Hamas in Gaza. The United States leads an international coalition battling jihadists in Iraq and neighboring Syria, and its forces have come under repeated attack in recent weeks. Us forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked at least 84 times since the 17th of October.
This comes after Hamas’s seventh of October attack on Israel. The Pentagon says that the attacks have left at least 60 US personnel wounded. The US has responded with a series of strikes that have killed at least 15 militants in Iraq and up to seven in Syria. To give you an idea of as to where the US troops are stationed in the Middle East, here is a map. In Syria, approximately 900 soldiers are stationed to conduct counterterrorism operations against ISIS. In Iraq, around 2,500, though the presence of the US military is a sensitive domestic issue in Jordanian politics, there were around 2,900 personnel as of the June of 2023 at the request of the Jordanian government.
At least 8,000 US forces are deployed to the large alloyed airbase southwest of Doha, which hosts the regional headquarters for the US Central Command. As of 2022, there were over 9,000 US military personnel assigned to the NSC Bahrain. And in 2021, there were 13,500 US personnel and thousands of pieces of equipment in Kuwait, primarily at Camp Agniban and Al-Shalim Air Base. Now, in December of 2022, there were over 2,700 US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia to train, advise, and assist its armed forces and to protect US interests in the region from Iran and its proxies. The UAE has been a key US ally in the Middle East for years, hosting up to 3,500 US personnel. There are a few hundred troops stationed in Oman, primarily from the Air Force. The US has over 1,000 troops in here, a NATO member, primarily at an airbase near the city of Adana and an air station near Ismur.
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