U.S. troops positioned in the Middle East have been attacked 13 times in the last week with a mix of one-way drones and rockets, according to Pentagon officials.
U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed Tuesday that troops in Iraq had been attacked 10 times between Oct. 17-24, while during the same period troops in Syria had been attacked three times.
Pentagon officials said Monday that all the attacks on U.S. troops have Iran’s fingerprints on them, though there is no evidence at this time showing the country’s leaders ordered the attacks.
But according to the most up-to-date list which has been reviewed by Central Command (CENTCOM), there were a total of eight attacks. It is unclear where the additional five attacks occurred, which CENTCOM has not yet reported.
On Oct. 18, al Asad base, which is west of Baghdad, U.S. forces engaged two drones, in which one was destroyed, and the second was damaged. There were minor injuries to coalition forces and some damage to the base. A contractor suffered a heart attack of earlier warnings for an attack that never took place.
But according to the most up-to-date list which has been reviewed by Central Command (CENTCOM), there were a total of eight attacks. It is unclear where the additional five attacks occurred, which CENTCOM has not yet reported.
On Oct. 18, al Asad base, which is west of Baghdad, U.S. forces engaged two drones, in which one was destroyed, and the second was damaged. There were minor injuries to coalition forces and some damage to the base. A contractor suffered a heart attack of earlier warnings for an attack that never took place.
The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require evacuation from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza cannot be contained, according to four officials familiar with the U.S. government’s contingency planning.
The specter of such an operation comes as Israeli forces, aided by U.S. weapons and military advisers, prepare for what is widely expected to be a perilous ground offensive against Hamas militants responsible for the stunning cross-border attack that has reignited hostilities.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail internal deliberations, said Americans living in Israel and neighboring Lebanon are of particular concern, though they stressed that an evacuation of that magnitude is considered a worst-case scenario and that other outcomes are seen as more likely.
Still, one official said, it “would be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything.” The administration, despite its forceful public support for Israel, is deeply alarmed by the prospect of escalation, and in recent days it has turned its attention in part to the complicated logistics of abruptly having to relocate a large number of people,
according to three people familiar with the discussions. There were about 600,000 U.S. citizens in Israel and another 86,000 believed to be in Lebanon when Hamas attacked, according to State Department estimates.
