US seeks Iraq's help to counter attacks on its troops

The United States wants to actively engage with Iraq to address a surge in attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria, a top US official said Wednesday in Baghdad.

Dozens of drone and rocket attacks have targeted US troops and forces in the international anti-jihadist coalition since mid-October.

They have mainly been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a shadowy group linked to pro-Iranian armed factions, including former paramilitaries known as the Hashed al-Shaabi.

"These are not just attacks on the US … These are attacks on Iraqi facilities and they put Iraqi sovereignty at risk," Victoria Nuland, US acting deputy secretary of state, told reporters in Baghdad after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani.

"We had a good conversation today about how we can intensify our cooperation to bring these attacks to an end, not simply those in Iraq but those from Iraq on interests in Syria, and how we can do that together."

She said Washington's "preference" — shared by the authorities in Baghdad — was for Iraq and its forces "to be able to handle ... this security threat."

In response to the attacks, US forces have carried out several strikes against pro-Iranian fighters in Iraq, as well as sites linked to Iran in Syria.

So far, Washington has reported at least 102 attacks in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17 — 10 days after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Salvoes of rockets were fired at the US Embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 8, without causing any casualties.

Iraq later said a number of people had been arrested, saying some of the attackers had links to the country's security services.

There are roughly 2,500 US troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of international efforts to prevent a resurgence of the jihadist Islamic State group.