Two American officials: Two attacks with drones and missiles targeted American forces in Iraq and Syria

An Iraqi security source and two American officials told Reuters on Monday that American forces stationed in Iraq and Syria were subjected to two separate attacks using missiles and two drones within less than 24 hours.

The two attacks come after a cessation of targeting American forces for about three months.

An American official said that two drones were shot down near Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts American forces in Anbar Governorate, western Iraq.

The attack on the Ain al-Assad base comes after American forces targeted a base in Rmelan in northeastern Syria with five missiles launched from northern Iraq on Sunday, according to American and Iraqi officials.

There were no reports of injuries or severe damage as a result of the missile attacks.

A US Defense Department official, who declined to reveal his identity, said that the missile attack that occurred on Sunday targeted US forces in what appears to be the first attack targeting US forces in Iraq and Syria since February 4.

A massive explosion at a military base in Iraq on Saturday killed a member of an Iraqi security force that includes groups allied with Iran.

The force commander said it was an attack, while the army stated that it was investigating the incident and that no warplanes were in the sky.

The US military denied responsibility for the attack.

American forces in the region have been subjected to attacks with missiles and drones since mid-October on an almost daily basis. One of the armed Shiite groups allied with Iran, known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, claimed responsibility, attributing it to US support for the Israeli war in Gaza.

The attacks stopped in late January under pressure from the Iraqi authorities and Iran, following retaliatory US air attacks in Iraq after three American soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a small base on the Iraqi-Jordanian border.

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani returned over the weekend from a week-long visit to the United States. There, he met with President Joe Biden in an attempt to open a new chapter in US-Iraqi relations despite the escalation of tension in the region.

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003, overthrew President Saddam Hussein, and withdrew in 2011 before returning in 2014 at the head of an international military coalition at the request of the Baghdad government to help confront ISIS militants.

The United States currently has about 2,500 soldiers in Iraq and 900 soldiers in eastern Syria.