A third attack against a convoy of the US-led Coalition today

2021-12-26 09:36

Shafaq News/ A blast from a roadside bomb reportedly hit a convoy of the US-led Global coalition in the north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

A source told Shafaq News agency that the explosion targeted a supply convoy of the Coalition inside al-Tarmiyah District, north of Baghdad.

The attack caused no damages to the convoy but harmed a civilian vehicle passing near the site, the source said, no human casualties were reported.

Earlier today, two similar attacks targeted a convoy of the Coalition in Babel and al-Anbar.

Observers believe that Iran-backed Iraqi factions orchestrate these nearly daily attacks against the convoys of the US-led Coalition in Iraq. The frequency of the attacks launched by the factions loyal to Iran increased drastically since the assassination of the Commander of Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, and the Deputy Head of al-Hashd al-Shaabi Authority, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in Baghdad in January 2020.

Heading into the first part of next year -with Qasem Soleimani's assassination anniversary, government formation process, and few other milestones- U.S. officials on multiple occasions anticipated an exacerbation of the attacks against U.S. interests in Iraq and Syria.

A main reason for the U.S. officials to believe that Iranian-backed groups will increase attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria around the new year is the U.S. combat forces scheduled conversion to an advisory role in Iraq on Dec. 31, per the agreement sealed between Washington and Baghdad.

On Dec. 9, the Iraqi government announced that U.S. troops had ended their combat mission. In reality, U.S. troops in Iraq made the transition to a training mission in July 2020, and thousands of U.S. troops will remain in both Iraq and Syria in this advisory role into 2022. The announcement was meant to ease pressure on the Iraqi government by Iranian-backed groups.

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