Pro-Iranian forces are “playing with fire” in the US-led war in Iraq and the recent rise in war demonstrations could be disrupted, experts warn.
Twelve rockets were fired into Ain Al-Assad west of Anbar, which controlled Iraqi and American forces on Tuesday in a series of deadly shootings.
A shotgun used in the attack exploded near the base and destroyed several buildings, including a mosque.
Hamza Mishaan was one of the civilians injured in the blast. He asked why ordinary people were part of the fighting.
“I was looking out of the window when a bomb exploded and a bomb hit me in the head. Why is this happening in our area? We are not part of the war,” Mishaan told Al Jazeera.
General Tahsin al-Khafaji of the Joint Operation Command of Iraq acknowledged that the threat was growing.
“These terrorists have been using various methods to get to the bottom. This time the arrows were hidden in the bags of flour. We are now gathering evidence to identify the perpetrators, ”he said.
‘Important permissions’
The used car turned into a curved iron and lay on the side of a mosque that had been demolished after the recent Iranian military invaded US forces in Iraq.
“All areas were destroyed, houses were burned, windows were broken,” said Hamza Abdulrazzaq, his head covered with a bandage. “The government must protect us. Why should we always pay? ”
There have been threats in the past in Anbar province in Iraq, home to US troops led by ISIL (ISIS). But the operation was much larger than in the past.
Iraq’s General Hamad Namess said all 24 rockets had been fired on Tuesday from a pickup truck.
“The vehicle had all the necessary permits to pass through the waiting area,” he told reporters Thursday, speaking at the scene of the threat.
Fourteen projectiles hit their target, causing minor injuries to two people below.
‘Playing with Fire’
The Pentagon said Thursday it was “deeply concerned” by the number of US terrorist attacks in Iraq and Syria in recent days.
“They are using dangerous weapons. I don’t know how to say anything other than it’s dangerous, “Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Iraqi forces allied with Iran have vowed to retaliate after US planes crashed on the Iraqi-Syrian border and killed four members last month.
Iran has refused to support US military attacks in Iraq and Syria and has condemned US protests against Iranian-backed groups.
Iraq, a long-running court for fierce competition between the US and Iran despite intense hostility toward ISIL, has seen increasing threats of rocket and drone targeting U.S. targets in recent months.
Recent days have seen repeated protests over US interests in the West, the Kurdish region in northern Iraq in northern Iraq, and the US ambassador to Baghdad.
Some have been accused by unidentified groups of wanting to “stay in America”, or promising to avenge the death of their friends killed in a US bombing.
But observers are criticizing the group affiliated with Iran, which operates under the umbrella of Hashd al-Shaabi A public agreement designed to fight ISIL.
Superintendents from Hashd, who have been linked to the military and have been a major player in the political process, often appreciate the threats – not to mention that they are to blame.
Hashd has promised revenge death of its acids air strikes to the US in Iraq and Syria.
Investigators warn that even if no party wants to escalate the conflict, the invasion has turned into a violent one.
An army official warned Iraqi armed groups were “playing with fire”.
Loss of validity?
“We can expect the situation to continue,” said Marsin Alshamary, an Iraqi specialist at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington.
Pro-Iranian forces have made numerous threats against US demands in Iraq since the beginning of the year, especially as protests.
Iraqi researcher Hamdi Malik of the Washington Institute says a recent crackdown on Iranian allies in Iraq and eastern Syria is a step in the right direction.
Pro-Iranian groups faced a major crisis in January last year when the US assassinated a senior Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi ambassador Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
“In vain their people are being killed, [pro-Iran groups] at the risk of losing their credibility and legitimacy, “Malik said.
They are also wary of “losing respect in the eyes of other ‘warring factions’ in other countries in the region,” he said, referring to Iranian troops in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
On the other hand, Washington is “trying to curb the power and control of the military”, Alshamary said.
Iraq has repeatedly condemned eagles and drones, but has failed to prosecute any of the perpetrators, Alshamary said.
Such incidents have escalated in Iraq and Syria despite the US and Iran negotiating uncontrollably for the purpose of reviving the agreement in 2015 at the Tehran nuclear summit, which was thwarted by Trump officials in 2018.
