US forces in Iraq, Syria attacked 73 times in last few weeks

U.S. forces were attacked four separate times on Thanksgiving Day
Official: 36 of the attacks occurred in Iraq and 37 were in Syria
None of the incidents resulted in injuries to U.S. troops or damage

Updated: Nov 24, 2023 / 04:27 PM CST

(NewsNation) — U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have come under attack 73 times since Oct. 17 — including four separate attacks on Thanksgiving Day, a U.S. defense official confirmed to NewsNation.

On Thanksgiving Day, multiple one-way attack drones, called “OWUAS” or “one-way unmanned aerial systems,” were launched against troops at Al-Asad Airbase and Erbil Airbase, both in Iraq.

It was the second attack on Eribl Airbase. A separate one-way drone attack was launched against forces on Wednesday.

Later on Thursday, a one-way attack drone was launched against U.S. and Coalition forces at Mission Support Site Green Village in the vicinity of Omar Oil Fields in Syria and a multi-rocket attack was launched against forces at Mission Support Site Euphrates, also in Syria.

In all, a U.S. defense official told NewsNation that 36 of the attacks occurred in Iraq and 37 were in Syria since Oct. 17.

None of the incidents resulted in injuries to U.S. troops or damage to its facilities, according to the official.

NewsNation senior national security contributor Ret. Lt. Gen. Richard Newton weighed in on the influx of attacks, saying, “The backdrop of these attacks is Iran.”

“Iran is behind all of these,” Newton said. America’s support of Israel “will really compel Iran proxies to attack American interests, in this case American men and women serving in places like Iraq and Syria.”