US ‘will not tolerate’ attacks on troops in Middle East: Austin
Annapolis, United States – AFP
The United States will not tolerate attacks on American troops in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday, after rocket fire in Iraq wounded seven US personnel.
The Monday attack was the third in just over three weeks on Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, which hosts American troops as well as other personnel from the US-led coalition.
“Make no mistake, the United States will not tolerate attacks on our personnel in the region,” Austin told a news conference in Annapolis.
A US defense official said earlier in the day that the attack wounded five American military personnel and two contractors, all of whom are in stable condition.
A Pentagon statement on a call between Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant described the rocket fire as an “Iran-aligned militia attack on US forces” and said the two agreed that it “marked a dangerous escalation.”
The latest rocket fire comes as fears grow of an attack by Iran and its allies on Israel in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures in strikes either blamed on or claimed by Israel.
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