The United States is taking "extremely seriously” a weekend attack by Iran-backed militants on a base that hosts U.S. forces in Iraq, the White House said Sunday.
"It was a very serious attack, using a capability of ballistic missiles that posed a genuine threat," White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Sunday during an appearance on ABC's “This Week.”
"We are going to respond... to establish deterrence in these situations, and to hold these groups accountable that continue to attack us," Finer added.
"Multiple ballistic missiles and rockets" were fired by Iran-backed militants at Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq late Saturday, the U.S. military said, leading to one Iraqi and possible American casualties.
The Pentagon said most of the projectiles fired at the base were intercepted by air defense systems.
The use of ballistic missiles marks an escalation in the attacks, which had previously been carried out with lower-tech rockets and drones.
"You can be assured that we are taking this extremely seriously," Finer said.
Since mid-October, there have been dozens of attacks on the approximately 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq and the 900 troops in Syria, deployed there with other coalition forces to fight jihadis of the Islamic State group.
Most incidents, including Saturday's attack, have been claimed by "Islamic Resistance in Iraq," a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.
Increasing missile attacks in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen have increased fears of a widening Gaza war in the Middle East, pitting Iran and its allies against Israel and the United States.
Iran said five of its Revolutionary Guards commanders were killed Saturday in a missile strike on a house in Damascus, blaming the attack on Israel, and security sources in Lebanon said an Israeli strike there killed a member of Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel has not commented.
Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
