BAGHDAD, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi Shiite militia on Saturday claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed in an online statement that its fighters launched an explosive-laden drone to attack a U.S. base in Kharab al-Jir town in Syria's northeastern province of al-Hasakah, without giving details about casualties.
The attack by the Iraqi armed group is part of a series of retaliatory measures against the U.S. forces amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, the statement added.
The attack came after the U.S. forces conducted airstrikes on the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces in western Iraq, killing 16 people and wounding dozens of others.
The U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Friday that the U.S. forces conducted airstrikes on more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and affiliated militia groups.
The U.S. airstrikes came in response to recent attacks by Iranian-backed militias that caused the first U.S. fatalities since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7, 2023. ■
