US Attack in Iraq; Hashd al-Shaabi Forces Targeted by Drone Missiles

Amid rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, a US official told Reuters about an attack by the United States on positions of Iraqi militias. Reuters reports that it is still unclear which militia forces in Iraq were targeted. However, this US official stated that the attack was conducted in defense of US forces. Concurrently, Hashd al-Shaabi, the most important militia group supported by the Islamic Republic in Iraq, announced on Wednesday morning that two patrols of its forces in Babil province, located in central Iraq, were attacked by airstrikes. According to the Iranian state news agency IRNA, Hashd al-Shaabi stated in a communiqué: "Available information indicates that two patrols of Brigade 47 in northern Babil province were targeted by missiles fired from drones, resulting in casualties among the forces." Hashd al-Shaabi did not mention the perpetrator of the attack in its statement. Reuters, citing police and hospital sources in Iraq, reported that four people were killed and three were injured in these explosions. An unnamed US official emphasized that this attack was due to threats against coalition forces stationed in Iraq. However, he did not comment on the casualties of this attack in Iraq. Iraqi and US officials had reported on August 4 that several rockets were fired at Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq, which houses US-led forces, but these attacks did not result in damage or casualties. US officials clarified that these rockets did not hit Ain al-Asad base. These developments come as the Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it killed Fouad Shukr, a commander of Hezbollah, in an airstrike in Beirut.