U.S. Embassy and Consulate General employees in Iraq whose work is not related to the critical functions of the diplomatic mission have been instructed to evacuate from Iraq. This was announced on Sunday, October 22, in a statement by the country’s State Department.
“Family members and non-emergency government personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the U.S. Consulate General in Erbil have been instructed to evacuate due to increased security threats,” the document said.
In addition, the State Department warned US citizens against traveling to the country due to “terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest” and other things.
Earlier, on October 21, a US military base in Iraqi Kurdistan was attacked by two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It is also reported that representatives of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a movement consisting of Shiite fighters who previously fought against the militants of the Islamic State group (IS, an organization recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation), took responsibility for the attack.
On October 19, the US Ain al-Assad air base in Anbar province in western Iraq was attacked by drones and missiles.
Earlier that day, an Iraqi Shiite group attacked the US base at Tanf in Syria. In addition, the same group launched a missile attack on a US base in the Koniko gas field northeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria.
The day before, on October 18, US troops at an airfield in northwestern Iraq shot down two drones that were attacking their units and coalition forces.
Attacks on American bases in the Middle East have become more frequent amid the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in which the United States supported Israel.
