At least one Iranian-sponsored militia was targeting U.S. soldiers and
bases amid withdrawal plans in Iraq. On June 29, three U.S. soldiers were
killed in a rocket attack in southern Iraq near the border with Iran.
"The weapons were Iranian and the methods were Iranian," a U.S. military
officer said.
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This marked the second such strike on a U.S. military base in June.
The U.S. military has blamed the attacks on the so-called Hizbullah
Brigades, said to be assigned to target the American military presence in
Iraq.
Hizbullah Brigades, believed linked to Hizbullah in Lebanon, has been
the only Shi'ite militia to continuously employ the so-called improvised
rocket-assisted mortars. IRAM has consisted of 107 or 122mm rockets fired
by remote control from a flatbed truck.
So far, the Iranian-aligned attacks have resulted in a spike in U.S.
casualties, with 15 dead. June was deemed the bloodiest month for U.S.
troops in Iraq since 2009.
For its part, Hizbullah Brigades has claimed responsibility for some of
the attacks. They included a June 6 rocket strike on a U.S. facility in
Baghdad in which five American soldiers were killed.
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