BAGHDAD — 

US forces shot down an armed drone above their embassy

in Baghdad on Monday night, Iraqi security officials said, hours after a
rocket attack on a base housing US soldiers in the west of the country.

American defense systems fired rockets into the air in Baghdad,

according to AFP reporters, with Iraqi security sources saying the salvos
took out a drone that was laden with explosives.
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Since the start of the year, 47 attacks have targeted US interests in the
country, where 2,500 American troops are deployed as part of an
international coalition to fight the jihadist Islamic State group.

Six of them involved these kinds of drones, a tactic that poses a headache
for the coalition as the aircraft can evade air defenses.

In April, a drone packed with explosives hit the coalition’s Iraq

headquarters in the military part of the airport in Arbil, the Iraqi Kurdish
regional capital.

The next month, a drone packed with explosives hit the Ain Al-Asad
airbase housing US troops.

On June 9, three explosives-laden drones targeted Baghdad airport,

where US soldiers are also deployed. One was intercepted by the Iraqi
army.

In a sign that the United States is concerned about new drone attacks, it
recently offered up to $3 million for information on attacks targeting its
interests in Iraq.

Separately on Monday, three rockets targeted an Iraqi air base in the

western desert that also housed US troops, the international anti-jihadist
coalition said.
The attack targeted the base at Ain al-Assad without causing any
casualties.

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BAGHDAD — US forces shot down an armed drone above their embassy
in Baghdad on Monday night, Iraqi security officials said, hours after a
rocket attack on a base housing US soldiers in the west of the country.

American defense systems fired rockets into the air in Baghdad,

according to AFP reporters, with Iraqi security sources saying the salvos
took out a drone that was laden with explosives.
ADVERTISEMENT

Since the start of the year, 47 attacks have targeted US interests in the
country, where 2,500 American troops are deployed as part of an
international coalition to fight the jihadist Islamic State group.

Six of them involved these kinds of drones, a tactic that poses a headache
for the coalition as the aircraft can evade air defenses.

In April, a drone packed with explosives hit the coalition’s Iraq

headquarters in the military part of the airport in Arbil, the Iraqi Kurdish
regional capital.

The next month, a drone packed with explosives hit the Ain Al-Asad
airbase housing US troops.

On June 9, three explosives-laden drones targeted Baghdad airport,

where US soldiers are also deployed. One was intercepted by the Iraqi
army.

In a sign that the United States is concerned about new drone attacks, it
recently offered up to $3 million for information on attacks targeting its
interests in Iraq.
Separately on Monday, three rockets targeted an Iraqi air base in the
western desert that also housed US troops, the international anti-jihadist
coalition said.

The attack targeted the base at Ain al-Assad without causing any
casualties.

READ NEXT