US and allied forces deployed to bases in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in 23 drone and rocket attacks in two weeks, a senior official of the US Department of Defence said the day before yesterday.

The attacks against US troops and their allies in the international anti-jihadism coalition in Iraq and Syria have been increasing since October 7 and the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip and has been seen as close to Tehran in recent years.

Specifically, between October 17 and 26, US and coalition forces were targeted 14 times in Iraq and 9 times in Syria. The attacks mostly failed to hit their targets.

Washington accuses Iran of being involved in these actions, that it is Iranian proxy attacks, and US warplanes last week launched strikes against two facilities in eastern Syria used by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s elite military force, and organizations affiliated with them, according to US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin.

Last Friday, the Pentagon said that 21 soldiers were slightly injured in these attacks. The US official said yesterday that there were no other casualties.

Washington has about 900 soldiers deployed in Syria and nearly 2,500 in Iraq as part of operations against the Islamic State group.

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