The world observed with dismay as the Islamist extremist group Hamas initiated a brutal attack on Israel through air, sea, and land on October 7. This assault resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives and the abduction of numerous individuals, including American citizens, into Gaza.
Subsequently, experts have voiced concerns regarding the potential for this conflict to trigger significant instability in the Middle East. Regrettably, these concerns were recently validated when several American soldiers suffered injuries overseas.
On October 19, Defense Department spokesperson Matthew Miller held a meeting with journalists to address several matters of interest. During the briefing, he verified that American troops based in Iraq had suffered injuries due to a sequence of drone attacks the day before.
Miller emphasized that military authorities were actively investigating these incidents and reiterated the Defense Department’s commitment to the safety and well-being of American citizens abroad, especially the members of the nation’s armed forces. However, he refrained from disclosing any specific details about the attacks.
Ryder affirmed that from October 17 to 24, American and coalition military forces experienced a minimum of 13 distinct assaults, comprising three in Syria and ten in Iraq. He noted that these events comprised a mix of rocket attacks and one way attack drones, indicating that the unmanned aerial vehicles were not intended to return to their point of origin.
On October 24, The Washington Post (WaPo) released a report confirming that no less than 24 US troops had suffered injuries amid the recent attacks on United States military bases in Syria and Iraq since the onset of the Hamas-Israel War.
On October 19, assaults targeted American troops and coalition forces at three military bases, two located in Iraq and one in Syria. Nevertheless, according to sources cited by The Washington Post (WaPo), no casualties or physical damage were reported as a result of these incidents. These attacks allegedly persisted for an additional three days.