A view of the al-Harir airbase near Erbil in northern Iraq. (File photo by Rudaw)
 

Baghdad, December 17 (RHC)-- A satellite photo of the U.S.-run al-Harir airbase in Iraq’s Kurdistan region shows extensive damage caused by repeated aerial attacks by anti-U.S. forces in the Arab country.  The photo, released by the online news magazine The Cradle on Wednesday, shows the destruction of two structures in the base totaling 13,700 square feet, or nearly 1,300 square meters, among other damages.  

The website said a high-level source in the resistance front had provided the image, which it said could not independently verify.   The report, quoting the resistance source, said 50 percent of the air base was hit by strikes during operations from October 24 to December 2.

Iraq’s Islamic resistance, a coalition involving an unspecified number of anti-US groups, has targeted the Harir base by armed drones 12 times since October 7, when Israel launched its onslaught on Gaza.  The resistance says those attacks are in retaliation for the U.S. support for the ongoing Israeli genocidal onslaught against Gaza, which has so far killed nearly 19,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.  

The resistance has also targeted other U.S. assets in Iraq, including the Ain al-Asad base in Al-Anbar province, as well as the US embassy in Baghdad. 

Moreover, the resistance has targeted bases occupied by the US forces in Syria, including the Koniko base.   The U.S. currently maintains thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Syria, claiming they are there as part of an alleged anti-terrorism campaign.

Iraq’s Islamic Resistance says it aims to oust US and other foreign forces from the country, and it has conducted hundreds of operations against the U.S. forces in the country throughout the past couple of years.

Those attacks escalated in early 2020 when Washington assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Depute PMF Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone attack outside the capital Baghdad.

The new wave of anti-U.S. attacks, however, started after Israel launched its relentless military campaign against Gaza.    Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to continue retaliatory attacks against US forces in the region as long as Israel continues to kill Palestinians in the besieged territory.