File image. A US military vehicle burning on the side of a road after it was attacked in Iraq’s Basra province on 26 December 2021. (Photo credit: Al-Mayadeen)
On 1 January 2022, a US occupation military convoy was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade in the southern region of Iraq.
According to news outlet, the incident happened on a highway in Dhi Qar Governorate.
Al-Mayadeen reported that the Companions of the Cave (As-hab al-Kahf) brigade have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Just after midnight,the "Companions of the cave", the Iraqi resistance, claimed its responsibility for targeting a #US convoy in Dhi-Qar #ذي_قار governorate, south of #Iraq. Many Iraqi groups warned it will consider all US forces as occupiers after 31/12/2021 if they don't leave pic.twitter.com/Ca10gWcclQ
— Elijah J. Magnier (@ejmalrai) January 1, 2022
Images shared on social media showed burning cars and equipment strewn on the highway. The US military has not issued any statement regarding the incident, and it is not yet clear if there were any casualties.
The attack is the fifth targeting a US convoy in Iraq during the last six days. In the early hours of 26 December 2021, a convoy was attacked on the outskirts of the capital Baghdad, a few hours later another convoy was targeted on the highway between Al-Hilla and Al-Diwaniyah in Qadisiyah province.
In the afternoon of the same day, a third convoy came under attack in Anbar province in the west of the country. On 27 December 2021, a US military convoy headed for Kuwait was attacked in Basra province.
The past few months have seen a sharp increase in attacks targeting US occupation forces in Iraq. Apart from the attacks on convoys, US military bases have also been targeted by rockets.
Iraqi resistance groups have warned that the attacks on US forces will continue and possibly increase if the Biden administration does not honor its word to completely withdraw all its troops from Iraq.
In early December 2021, the national security adviser of Iraq, Qassem al-Araji announced that the mission of the US-led international coalition had ended but that the troops would remain in the country as “trainers and advisers” to the Iraqi army.
On 30 December 2021, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi issued a similar statement.
A number of stakeholders have rejected the decision by the government to allow the US soldiers to remain in the country as “trainers.”
They say this is just an excuse to extend the presence of the US occupation.