Washington and Baghdad agreed last year to wind down a U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq by this September, with U.S. forces departing some bases where they have been stationed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told journalists in Baghdad that U.S. military advisers and support personnel are now stationed at the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, a base adjacent to the Baghdad airport, and the al-Harir air base in northern Iraq.

Al-Sudani noted that the agreement originally stipulated a full pullout of U.S. forces from Ain al-Asad by September, but that “developments in Syria” since then required maintaining a “small unit” of between 250 and 350 advisers and security personnel at the base.

He said they would work to support counter-IS surveillance and coordination with the al-Tanf base in Syria. He added that other U.S. sites are witnessing “gradual reductions” in personnel and operations.

After the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December, fears arose in Iraq of an IS resurgence taking advantage of the ensuing security vacuum and weapons abandoned by the former Syrian army.

Al-Sudani maintained that the extremist group, which seized wide swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria a decade ago, “no longer poses a significant threat inside Iraq.”

Iraq has sought to balance its relations with the United States and neighboring Iran and to avoid being pulled into regional conflicts, a policy that the prime minister said he will continue.

“We put Iraq first, and we do not wish to act as a proxy for anyone,” he said. “Iraq will not be a battlefield for conflicts.”

At the same time, al-Sudani urged the U.S. to return to negotiations with Iran, describing the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” approach to curtail Iranian influence as “counterproductive.”

“Iran is an important and influential country that must be treated with respect and through direct dialogue,” he said.

There have been tensions between Baghdad and Washington over the presence of Iran-backed militias in Iraq. The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of militias that formed to fight IS, was formally placed under the control of the Iraqi military in 2016 but in practice still operates with significant autonomy.

The Iraqi parliament has been considering legislation that would solidify the relationship between the military and the PMF, drawing objections from Washington.

Al-Sudani did not directly address the proposed legislation but said his government’s program “includes disarmament and national dialogue to remove any justification for carrying weapons.”

“We encourage all factions to either integrate into state institutions or engage in political life,” which could include becoming political parties and running for election, he said.

Iraq is preparing for parliamentary elections next month that will determine where al-Sudani serves a second term.

“Armed factions that have transformed into political entities have the constitutional right to participate” in those elections, the prime minister said.

Washington and Baghdad agreed last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with U.S. forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Wednesday that the U.S. “will reduce its military mission in Iraq,” reflecting “our combined success in fighting ISIS.”

The move “marks an effort to transition to a lasting U.S.-Iraq security partnership in accordance with U.S. national interests, the Iraqi Constitution, and the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement,” he said.

The statement added that Washington will maintain close coordination with Baghdad and coalition partners to ensure a “responsible transition.”

It did not give details on the number of troops that have withdrawn to date or when the drawdown would be completed.

A senior Iraqi security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the U.S. withdrawal began weeks ago from Baghdad and from Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq.

“Only a very small number of advisers remain within the Joint Operations Command,” the official said.

He added that some forces have redeployed to the city of Irbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, while others have left the country entirely, and that there is no accurate count of those who have withdrawn yet.

The official said the drawdown is proceeding according to agreed-upon schedules.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told The Associated Press in an interview in July that the U.S. and Iraq will meet by the end of the year to “arrange the bilateral security relationship” between the two countries.

The strike targeted Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi, also known as Abu Taqwa, the leader of the Harakat al-Nujaba militia group, Defense Department spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. The attack also killed another militia member.

“It is important to note that the strike was taken in self defense [and] that no civilians were harmed and that no infrastructure or facilities were struck,” Ryder added.

The strike comes amid fears that mounting regional tensions fueled by the Israel-Hamas war could spill over into surrounding countries. It also coincides with a push by Iraqi officials for US-led coalition forces to leave the country.

Officials from the Popular Mobilization Force, or PMF, a coalition of militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, were first to announce that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, who they identified as Abu Taqwa, had been killed “as a result of brutal American aggression.”

That group, one of the militias within PMF, was designated a terrorist organization by Washington in 2019.

Iraqi military spokesman Yehia Rasool said in a statement that the Iraqi army blames the U.S.-led International Coalition Forces for the “unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security body operating in accordance with the powers granted to it by” the Iraqi military.

The primary mission of the U.S.-led coalition is to fight the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist militant group that continues to carry out periodic attacks in Iraq despite having lost its hold on the territory it once controlled in 2017. Since then, the coalition has transitioned from a combat role to an advisory and training mission.

The PMF, a group of Iranian-backed, primarily Shiite militias, were also key in the fight against the Islamic State after it overran much of Iraq in 2014. The PMF is officially under the command of the Iraqi army, but in practice the militias operate independently.

Thursday’s strike killed two people and wounded five, according to two militia officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

One of the officials said al-Saidi was driving into the garage of the headquarters affiliated with the Harakat al-Nujaba militia, along with another militia official, when the car was hit, killing both.

Heavy security was deployed around the location of the strike on Baghdad’s Palestine Street, and Iraqi war planes could be seen flying overhead. An Associated Press photographer was eventually allowed access to the scene of the strike, where he saw the remains of the charred car.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, a group of Iranian-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has carried out more than 100 attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria.

The group has said the attacks are in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the war against Hamas, which has killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza, according to reports. The group has stated that they aim to push U.S. forces out of Iraq.

Thursday’s strike is likely to increase calls for a U.S. departure.

Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani — who came to power with the backing of Iran-linked political factions but has also attempted to maintain good relations with the U.S. — said that his government is “is proceeding to end the presence of the international coalition forces.”

The strike also comes two days after a suspected Israeli drone strike in the suburbs of Beirut killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh Arouri.

Asked whether Israel had involvement in Thursday’s strike in Baghdad, an Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment.

Associated Press staff writers Ali Jabar in Baghdad, Tara Copp in Washington, Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said one of the U.S. troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack that utilized a one-way attack drone.

Iraqi officials said U.S. strikes targeting militia sites early Tuesday killed one militant and injured 18. They came at a time of heightened fears of a regional spillover of the Israel-Hamas war.

Iran announced Monday that an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus killed one of its top generals, Razi Mousavi, who had been a close companion of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the former head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Soleimani was slain in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.

Iranian officials vowed revenge for the killing of Mousavi but did not immediately launch a retaliatory strike. The militia attack Monday in northern Iraq was launched prior to the strike in Syria that killed Mousavi.

Biden, who was spending Christmas at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, was alerted about the attack by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan shortly after it occurred Monday and ordered the Pentagon and his top national security aides to prepare response options to the attack on an air base used by American troops in Irbil.

Sullivan consulted with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Biden’s deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer, was with the president at Camp David and convened top aides to review options, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

Within hours, Biden convened his national security team for a call in which Austin and Gen. CQ Brown, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed Biden on the response options. Biden opted to target three locations used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, the official said.

The U.S. strikes were carried out at about 4:45 a.m. Tuesday in Iraq, less than 13 hours after the U.S. personnel were attacked. According to U.S. Central Command, the retaliatory strikes on the three sites “destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants.”

“The President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm’s way,” Watson said. “The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue.”

The latest attack on U.S. troops follows months of escalating threats and actions against American forces in the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the devastating war in Gaza.

The dangerous back-and-forth strikes have escalated since Iranian-backed militant groups under the umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Syria began striking U.S. facilities Oct. 17, the date that a blast at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds. Iranian-backed militias have carried out more than 100 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than two months ago.

In November, U.S. fighter jets struck a Kataib Hezbollah operations center and command and control node, following a short-range ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces at Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq. Iranian-backed militias also carried out a drone attack at the same air base in October, causing minor injuries.

The U.S. has also blamed Iran, which has funded and trained Hamas, for attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants against commercial and military vessels through a critical shipping choke point in the Red Sea.

The Biden administration has sought to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a wider regional conflict that either opens up new fronts of Israeli fighting or draws the U.S. in directly. The administration’s measured response — where not every attempt on American troops has been met with a counterattack — has drawn criticism from Republicans.

The U.S. has thousands of troops in Iraq training Iraqi forces and combating remnants of the Islamic State group, and hundreds in Syria, mostly on the counter-IS mission. They have come under dozens of attacks, though as yet none fatal, since the war began on Oct. 7, with the U.S. attributing responsibility to Iran-backed groups.

“While we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities,” Austin said in a statement.

The clashes put the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in a delicate position. He came to power in 2022 with the backing of a coalition of Iranian-backed parties, some of which are associated with the same militias launching the attacks on U.S. bases.

A group of Iranian-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces were key in the fight against Islamic State militants after the extremist group overran much of Iraq in 2014. The PMF is officially under the command of the Iraqi army, but in practice the militias operate independently.

In a statement Tuesday, Sudani condemned both the militia attack in Irbil and the U.S. response.

Attacks on “foreign diplomatic mission headquarters and sites hosting military advisors from friendly nations … infringe upon Iraq’s sovereignty and are deemed unacceptable under any circumstances,” the statement said.

However, it added that that the retaliatory strikes by the U.S. on “Iraqi military sites” — referring to the militia — “constitute a clear hostile act.” Sudani said some of those injured in the strikes were civilians.

A rocket attack on the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Friday marked a further escalation as Iraqi officials scramble to contain the ripple effects of the latest Middle East war.

Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq and a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power in October 2022. At the same time, there are some 2,000 U.S. troops in Iraq under an agreement with Baghdad, mainly to counter the militant Islamic State group.

Baghdad also relies heavily on Washington’s sanctions waivers to buy electricity from Iran, and since the 2003 U.S. invasion, Iraq’s foreign currency reserves have been housed at the U.S. Federal Reserve, giving the Americans significant control over Iraq’s supply of dollars.

Al-Sudani’s predecessors also had to walk a delicate line between Tehran and Washington, but the Israel-Hamas war has considerably upped the stakes.

Since the war erupted on Oct. 7, at least 91 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria have been claimed by an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militants dubbed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The militants say their attacks are in retaliation for Washington’s backing of Israel and its military presence in Iraq and Syria.

Al-Sudani has condemned the attacks and U.S. counter-strikes as a violation of his country’s sovereignty. He has also ordered authorities to pursue militants involved in the attacks, most of which caused no injuries and only minor damage. His office declined further comment.

Washington has sent messages that its patience is wearing thin.

After the embassy attack, the Pentagon said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “made clear (to al-Sudani) that attacks against U.S. forces must stop.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told al-Sudani that Washington expects Iraqi officials to take more action to prevent such attacks, and believes they have the capability to do so, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

During a recent trip to the region, CIA Director William Burns warned al-Sudani of “harsh consequences” if Iraq doesn’t act to stop the attacks, an Iraqi official said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with briefing regulations.

In a call with the Iraqi premier earlier this month, Blinken said that Americans would take matters into their own hands, arguing that Baghdad had not done enough to pursue the perpetrators, according to two Iraqi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Two days later, a U.S. strike on a drone launch site near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed five militants.

The U.S. and much of the international community have scrambled to prevent the war in the besieged Gaza Strip from expanding across the region.

Analyst Renad Mansour said he believes Iran is making sure the attacks remain below a threshold that would provoke a major U.S. response.

“Both Iran and Iraq have maintained thus far a clear line that, at the moment, Iraq cannot turn into a playground that could destabilize the Sudani government,” said Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank.

He said that’s partially due to Iraq’s role of passing messages between Washington and Tehran.

Sometimes the messenger is al-Sudani.

In early November, Blinken met with al-Sudani in Baghdad a day before the Iraqi prime minister was set to visit Tehran. Al-Sudani had won a specific promise from the militias that no attacks would be launched during Blinken’s visit, according to an Iraqi official and a member of the Kataib Hezbollah militia. Following the visit, al-Sudani carried a message from Blinken to Iran to restrain the militias.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

A week after the Iraqi premier’s diplomatic efforts, the United States extended Iraq’s sanctions waiver by four months to purchase Iranian electricity. Iran-hawks in Washington criticized the move, saying it would shore up revenue for Tehran while its proxies are at war with Israel.

Mansour says Washington has used the sanctions waiver as “one of its cards” in economy-centered efforts to pressure Iran and Iraq.

Unlike Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, seen as Iran’s most powerful proxy in the region, Iraq’s militias have so far only played a limited role in the conflict.

For now, only small number of militiamen from Iraq are in southern Lebanon, near Israel’s northern border, said the official from the Kataib Hezbollah group. He said the Iraqis are working on “battle management” alongside Hezbollah and representatives of Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years and is currently battling Israel.

He said Iran-backed groups in Iraq don’t want the conflict to spread across the region, but are prepared to respond with force to any attacks.

Should Iran and allies choose to escalate, al-Sudani’s government will likely be unable to rein them in or prevent consequences on Iraqi soil, said Iyad al-Anbar, a political science professor at Baghdad University.

“And this is why all al-Sudani has been able to do is try to bring some calm through statements,” said al-Anbar.

Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

BEIRUT — Coalition forces were slightly injured in Iraq in a spate of drone attacks over the last 24 hours at U.S. bases in Iraq as regional tensions flare following what Palestinian authorities claim to have been a deadly bombing of a hospital in Gaza.

Two drones targeted the al Asad airbase in western Iraq used by U.S. forces and one drone targeted a base in northern Iraq, a U.S. official told the Associated Press. U.S. forces intercepted all three, destroying two but only damaging the third, which led to minor injuries among coalition forces at the western base, according to a statement Wednesday by U.S. Central Command.

The U.S. official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the attacks.

“In this moment of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and the region. U.S. forces will defend U.S. and coalition forces against any threat,” Central Command said in the release.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have threatened to attack U.S. facilities there because of American support for Israel.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias, issued a statement afterward claiming responsibility for the two attacks and saying it “heralds more operations” against the “American occupation.”

The salvos came at a time of increasing tension and fears of a broader regional conflict in the wake of the latest Hamas-Israel war.

Since the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, much attention has been focused on Hezbollah, the powerful Hamas ally across Israel’s northern border in Lebanon, and its formidable arsenal. The group has traded so-far limited strikes with Israel on the border in recent days.

But Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have also threatened to attack U.S. facilities over American support for Israel.

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement last Wednesday. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.

Following a Tuesday night explosion that Palestinian officials say killed hundreds at a hospital in Gaza, the group issued another statement in which it blamed the U.S. and its support for Israel and called for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq. Hamas has said the explosion in Gaza was from an Israeli airstrike, while Israel has blamed a misfired rocket by Palestinian militants.

“These evil people must leave the country. Otherwise, they will taste the fire of hell in this world before the afterlife,” the statement said.

A U.S. defense official, who wasn’t authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attack on the al-Asad military base in western Iraq.

Tashkil al-Waritheen, one of the Iranian-backed militias making up the larger group, claimed responsibility in a statement for a second drone attack, which it said had targeted the al-Harir airbase in northern Iraq. U.S. officials did not immediately comment on the claim of a second attack.

The government of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq said an intercepted drone crashed in an open area near the village of Batas.

Also on Wednesday, Iran-allied groups in Iraq announced that they had formed a “joint operations room” to help Hamas in its war effort.

Two officials with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the issue, confirmed the attacks on the two bases Wednesday. They said the armed groups were on alert and prepared to join the wider battle against Israel, but that Iran had not yet given approval for them to open a new front. Leaders from some of the factions are now in Lebanon and Syria in case they get orders to proceed, one of the officials said.

Officials with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to comment.

Lahib Higel, a senior analyst for Iraq at the International Crisis Group, said in the short term, the Iraqi groups allied with Iran and Hamas are not likely to open a new front in the war, but that could change if the Hamas-Israel war escalates or becomes protracted.

“Geographically, obviously, they are several steps removed, so they’re not going to be the first to react” and are likely to serve in a supporting role, she said.

Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House, said the Iran-backed groups in Iraq are split between those that are also political parties and have a stake in the Iraqi political system and the “vanguard” groups that are purely militant and tend to be more tightly controlled by Iran.

The latter, he said, have been used in the past as foot soldiers in regional conflicts, including in Yemen and Syria.

“This is what they’re designed to do,” Mansour said. “The question is more, will Iran and some of the leaders of these groups decide it’s in their interest to escalate?”

Copp reported from Washington and Abdul-Zahra from Boston. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Salar Salim in Erbil contributed to this report.

Austin, whose visit came just days before the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, said in statement later that he held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Defense Minister Thabet Muhammad Al-Abbasi.

Al-Sudani’s office said he and Austin discussed cooperation between their countries in the fight against IS. The Iraqi premier reaffirmed his government’s “keenness to strengthen and consolidate relations with the United States of America at various levels and fields.”

Austin was greeted on touchdown in Baghdad by Maj. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, the U.S. commander in Iraq, which is home to hundreds of American troops helping in the fight against the militant Islamic State group.

“We’ll continue working to accomplish this mission together. Through the global coalition to defeat Daesh, we liberated more than 50,000 square kilometers from Daesh and freed more than 4.5 million Iraqis from their cruel grip,” Austin said, using an Arabic name for IS. “The United State remains committed to this fight in support of Iraq’s security and the security of the entire region.”

Austin also said that U.S. forces are ready to remain in Iraq at the invitation of its government, adding that these forces are operating in a non-combat and advisory role in support of the “Iraqi-led fight against terrorism.”

“This is a critical mission and we’re proud to support our Iraqi partners,” said Austin, one of the most senior Biden administration officials to visit Iraq in recent years.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that removed longtime dictator Saddam from power, Iraq has been a point of friction between the United States and Iran. Tehran has widely expanded its influence in Iraq over the past 20 years.

“I’m here to reaffirm the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership as we move toward a more secure, stable, and sovereign Iraq,” Austin tweeted upon arrival.

“We continue to believe that Iraq’s greater integration with its Arab partners in the region will deliver increased stability, security and prosperity, and it will pay dividends not only for Iraqi citizens, but for all people of the region,” Austin said, referring to Iraq’s improving its relations with Arab countries.

Despite their defeat in Iraq in 2017, IS militants and their sleeper cells are still launching attacks in the country, as well as in neighboring Syria. IS has killed and wounded dozens of Iraqi troops over the past months.

In a related issue, the U.S. has been urging countries around the world to repatriate their citizens from al-Hol camp in northeast Syria, home to tens of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis crowded into tents in the fenced-in camp. Nearly 20,000 of them are children; most of the rest are women, wives and widows of IS fighters.

A separate, heavily guarded section of the camp known as the annex houses an additional 10,000 people — including 2,000 women from 57 other countries, considered the most die-hard IS supporters, along with about 8,000 of their children.

Iraq has repatriated more than 500 women and children from al-Hol over the past few weeks.

“Military action alone won’t ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh,” Austin added. “So let me recognize the Iraqi government’s ongoing repatriations of Iraqi citizens from northeast Syria.”

Reading from a statement to gathered reporters, Austin said all countries with citizens in the detention facilities and displaced persons camps in northeast Syria “must take similar steps.” He said the U.S. stands ready to continue supporting Iraq and all countries working to repatriate their citizens.

The U.S. defense secretary did not take questions.

“We are focused on the mission of defeating Daesh, and we are here for no other purpose. Any threats or attacks on our forces only undermine that mission,” Austin said, apparently referring to Iran-backed fighters who were blamed for attacks on facilities housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

Austin said that he spoke with Iraqi leaders about the long term vision “for our defense partnership with Iraq, which will outlast Daesh.”

Mroue reported from Beirut.

In a statement, it said the captured leader was an experienced bomb maker and operational facilitator, describing him as one of the top leaders of the militant group’s branch in Syria.

The statement did not identify the individual nor say where exactly in northern Syria the raid took place. It said the operation was “successful” with no civilians harmed and no injuries to the coalition forces. The coalition did not respond to queries from The Associated Press.

Three Iraqi intelligence officials, however, identified the man as Ahmad Hani al-Kurdi, a Syrian national who rose through militant ranks to become one of the most senior and dangerous IS leaders and an expert on manufacturing booby-traps and explosives.

For a while, he was the IS leader in charge of the Syrian city of Raqqa, when it was the de facto capital of the group’s so-called Islamic “caliphate” that stretched across much of Iraq and Syria. The Iraqi intel officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give out the information.

The U.S.-backed forces declared victory over the Islamic State group in March 2019 after retaking the last piece of territory held by IS in Syria. But the militants continue to operate and carry out deadly attacks in both Iraq and Syria through sleeper cells; the group also maintains several affiliates in various countries.

A Syria war monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the operation began with two helicopters landing near the targeted area in the village of al-Humaira, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border.

It reported clashes with gunmen hiding in houses in the village in the northern Aleppo countryside as they were chased by members of the coalition. The Observatory has a network of activists on the ground in Syria.

The coalition has conducted raids in the past to take out IS leaders. In February, the group’s leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself up along with members of his family as American forces raided his Syria hideout.

His predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died similarly along with his family in 2019 by detonating a suicide vest in a tunnel in northwest Syria as a military operation unfolded during the Trump administration.

The IS group at the height of its power controlled more than 40,000 square miles stretching from Syria to Iraq and ruled over 8 million people. Its attacks in the region included a major assault last month to seize a prison in northeast Syria holding at least 3,000 IS detainees.’’

The officials said the Grad missiles struck inside the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq’s western Anbar province and caused minor damages but no casualties.

The officials said the missiles hit only a few meters (yards) from where U.S. forces are stationed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

The culprits were not immediately known, but the U.S. has previously accused Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups of targeting the American presence in Iraq, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The attacks were once a frequent occurrence, but have lessened in recent months.

In March, Iran attacked Iraq’s northern city of Irbil with a dozen ballistic missiles claiming it was targeting Israeli spy centers. Iraq later said an investigation found there was no Israeli presence in the areas. The attack was also considered a warning to the U.S., a staunch ally of Israel.

U.S.-led coalition forces recently ended their combat mission in Iraq, but continue to play an advisory role to Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group.

BAGHDAD — Iran claimed responsibility Sunday for a missile barrage that struck near a sprawling U.S. consulate complex in northern Iraq, saying it was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard earlier this week.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest the attack, calling it a flagrant violation of the country’s sovereignty.

No injuries were reported in Sunday’s attack on the city of Irbil, which marked a significant escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Hostility between the longtime foes has often played out in Iraq, whose government is allied with both countries.

The attack drew harsh condemnation from the Iraqi government, which called it a “violation of international law and norms” and demanded an explanation from the Iranian leadership. Iraq’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahhaf told The Associated Press that the ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador, Iraj Masjedi, to deliver the diplomatic protest.

The United States said the missile strike emanated from Iran and strongly condemned it.

“The strikes were an outrageous violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. No U.S. facilities were damaged or personnel injured, and we have no indications the attack was directed at the United States,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington.

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said on its website that it attacked what it described as an Israeli spy center in Irbil. It did not elaborate, but in a statement said Israel had been on the offensive, citing the recent strike that killed two members of the Revolutionary Guard. The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying Iran fired 10 Fateh missiles, including several Fateh-110 missiles, which have a range of about 300 kilometers (186 miles).

The source claimed the attack resulted in multiple casualties. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the allegations or the Iranian missile barrage.

An Iraqi official in Baghdad initially said several missiles had hit the U.S. consulate in Irbil, which is new and unoccupied, adding that it had been the intended target of the attack. Later, Lawk Ghafari, the head of Kurdistan’s foreign media office, said none of the missiles had struck the U.S. facility but that residential areas around the compound had been hit.

Following a Cabinet meeting, the Iraqi government in Baghdad reiterated its refusal to allow Iraq to be used to settle scores between other countries and said it has requested an explanation from the Iranian leadership.

Satellite broadcast channel Kurdistan24, which is located near the U.S. consulate, went on air from their studio shortly after the attack, showing shattered glass and debris on their studio floor.

The attack came several days after Iran said it would retaliate for an Israeli strike near Damascus, Syria, that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard. On Sunday, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Iraqi media acknowledging the attacks in Irbil, without saying where they originated.

The missile barrage coincided with regional tensions. Negotiations in Vienna over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal hit a “pause” over Russian demands about sanctions targeting Moscow for its war on Ukraine. Meanwhile, Iran suspended its secret Baghdad-brokered talks aimed at defusing yearslong tensions with regional rival Saudi Arabia, after Saudi Arabia carried out its largest known mass execution in its modern history with over three dozens Shiites killed.

The Iraqi security officials said there were no casualties from the Irbil attack, which they said occurred after midnight and caused material damage in the area. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

One of the Iraqi officials said the ballistic missiles were fired from Iran, without elaborating. He said the projectiles were the Iranian-made Fateh-110, likely fired in retaliation for the two Revolutionary Guards killed in Syria.

Another U.S. official said in a statement that the U.S. condemned what it called an “outrageous attack against Iraqi sovereignty and display of violence.”

U.S. forces stationed at Irbil’s airport compound have come under fire from rocket and drone attacks in the past, with U.S. officials blaming Iran-backed groups.

The top U.S. commander for the Middle East has repeatedly warned about the increasing threats of attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed militias on troops and allies in Iraq and Syria.

In an interview with The Associated Press in December, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie said that while U.S. forces in Iraq have shifted to a non-combat role, Iran and its proxies still want all American troops to leave the country. As a result, he said, that may trigger more attacks.’

The Biden administration decided last July to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by Dec. 31, and U.S. forces gradually moved to an advisory role last year. The troops will still provide air support and other military aid for Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State.

The U.S. presence in Iraq has long been a flash point for Tehran, but tensions spiked after a January 2020 U.S. drone strike near the Baghdad airport killed a top Iranian general. In retaliation, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at al-Asad airbase, where U.S. troops were stationed. More than 100 service members suffered traumatic brain injuries in the blasts.

More recently, Iranian proxies are believed responsible for an assassination attempt late last year on Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

And officials have said they believe Iran was behind the October drone attack at the military outpost in southern Syria where American troops are based. No U.S. personnel were killed or injured in the attack.

Al-Kadhimi tweeted: “The aggression which targeted the dear city of Irbil and spread fear amongst its inhabitants is an attack on the security of our people.”

Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish-controlled region, condemned the attack. In a Facebook post, he said Irbil “will not bow to the cowards who carried out the terrorist attack.”

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee in Washington, Zeina Karam in Beirut, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.