Spike in attacks on US troops in Middle East as American forces surge to region
WASHINGTON – American troops in Iraq and Syria were targeted in seven more attacks over the weekend as the US boosted its military presence in the region while the Israel-Hamas war rages.
“Since Oct. 17 Eastern Time, we’ve had 20 attacks in Iraq, 18 in Syria — a total of 38 of these, you know, essentially what are harassing attacks of drones and rockets,” Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder told reporters Monday.
The total of 38 attacks was up from Friday afternoon, when the figure was 31, according to the Pentagon.
While Ryder said no one was reported hurt in the weekend attacks, more troops have recently come forward with injuries from previous incidents.
The newly reported injured include five Americans diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries at Al-Tanf military base in Syria, the rep said, bringing the total there to 20 so far.
“We’ve also had an additional 10 personnel at Al-Tanf diagnosed with other minor injuries,” he said. “These could be things like shrapnel, headaches, perforated ear drums, tinnitus, rolled ankle, etc.”
The newly reported injuries bring the total number of forces hurt in attacks in the region to 45 since the first assault occurred Oct. 17.
It is not uncommon for injury rates to rise in the days and weeks after an attack “for a number of reasons,” Ryder explained.
“Individuals initially dismissing the severity of the injuries they’ve sustained either from a direct blast or non-direct blast can delay reporting or seeking of treatment, or symptoms presenting themselves after initial reporting can cause personnel to seek care at a later date,” he said.
“So the reporting data is highly dependent on self-reporting when individual injuries are not visually evident to medical personnel providing care directly following an incident,” he added.
At the Al-Asad military base in Iraq, there have been an additional nine troops who have reported “other minor injuries” but no increases in the number of traumutic brain injury cases, which remains at four total.
“There has been one other injury diagnosed – a minor injury at Erbil [military base in Iraq] – following an attack there on 26th October,” Ryder said.
The new attacks came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the war-torn Mideast region, making stops in the occupied West Bank, Iraq and Turkey on Sunday into Monday.
President Biden held an emergency call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to drive home some of what Blinken was pushing for, including “humanitarian pauses” in Israel’s strikes against the Palestinian terror Group Hamas.
“[Biden and Netanyahu] discussed the possibility of tactical pauses to provide civilians with opportunities to safely depart from areas of ongoing fighting, to ensure assistance is reaching civilians in need, and to enable potential hostage releases,” the White House said in a statement afterward.
“The President also discussed the situation in the West Bank and the need to hold extremist settlers accountable for violent acts,” the Biden administration said.
Israel has balked at an pause in its attacks until all of the hostages taken by Hamas during its heinous Oct. 7 assault on the Jewish state are freed.
More than 1,400 Israelis died in the slaughter. Palestinian leaders have said more than 9,000 Palestinians have died since Israel’s retaliation.
The developments came the US increased its forces in the Middle East, notably sending a nuclear-capable Ohio-class submarine to the region Sunday, with US Central Command boldly announcing its presence there in a post to X that day.
The same day, CENTCOM also announced a bomber task force was sent to the Middle East, “demonstrating the ability of the U.S. military to respond to crises and contingencies across theaters,” it said in another post to X.
The Defense Department rarely reports on active or future movements by American submarines, as the underwarter force – dubbed “the silent service” – thrives on the platforms ability to maneuver without enemy detection.
The Navy also operated two aircraft carriers – the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower – and their strike groups in the eastern Mediterranean Sea over the weekend. Each aircraft carrier has crews of roughly 5,000 sailors.
The new deployments to the region were meant to “further support our deterrence efforts in the region,” Ryder said.
