At least three U.S. soldiers were killed and 34 were wounded in an attack on a U.S. outpost near the Syria-Jordan border on January 28.
The Islamic Resistance Forces in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attacks, also claiming that they had targeted at least two other U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq and one Israeli base on the same day.
This is the first time U.S. soldiers have been killed in over 150 attacks carried out by various resistance forces in the region since October 7.
The Islamic Resistance Forces is a constituent of the Hashd al-Shaabi or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq. It has been targeting U.S. bases in the region in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance to Israel in Gaza.
The PMF, also a part of “the Axis of Resistance” against U.S. imperialism and colonial projects in the region, holds the U.S. directly responsible for the killing of Palestinians, as the country has provided military and diplomatic support to the Israeli war machine.
PMF has demanded that the U.S. stop supporting the Israeli war in Gaza and withdraw all its troops from the region.
U.S. forces have retaliated against some of the attacks. One such U.S. strike in the first week of January had killed one senior commander of the PMF, Hajj Moshtaq Taleb al-Saidi (Abou Taqwa) in Baghdad. In a similar attack, a PMF training center was destroyed last week.