Fifth drone strike in past week targets U.S. troops

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Al-Asad Airbase in western Al-Anbar province was struck by another drone on Saturday, according to a Kurdistan 24 reporter.

The Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Arabic acronym, JAMI) has claimed responsibility for the drone attack. 

Saturday's attack marked the fifth time over the past week that U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked.  

Read More: Third Day of Drone, Rocket Attacks by Pro-Iranian Militias

Earlier on Friday, Thabet Muhammad Al-Abbasi, the Iraqi Minister of Defense, visited Al-Asad Airbase to assess the security situation after previous attacks were observed at the base during the past week.

A total of approximately 2,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, along with approximately 1,000 soldiers from other nations part of the coalition to combat ISIS.

JAMI, created in May 2004, is a coalition of Sunni insurgent groups operating in Iraq.

According to a June 2007 report, indicating that despite its name, “JAMI is more nationalist than Islamist in outlook.” Its key goal is to remove U.S. forces from Iraq, while avoiding confrontation with the Iraqi military. 

In March 2006, Jami warned against directly confronting U.S. forces due to a disparity in firepower in the “occupier’s” favor.

In May 2007, JAMI merged with Hamas-Iraq, which was believed to be defunct as of 2011.