{"id":75684,"date":"2024-01-11T22:12:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T22:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/01\/11\/attacks-on-us-troops-in-iraq-and-syria-climb-to-130\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:38:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:38:40","slug":"attacks-on-us-troops-in-iraq-and-syria-climb-to-130","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/01\/11\/attacks-on-us-troops-in-iraq-and-syria-climb-to-130\/","title":{"rendered":"Attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria climb to 130"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Syria<\/a> have come under attack from Iran-backed militias 130 times since Oct. 17 as of Thursday, according to the Pentagon, totaling 53 attacks in Iraq and 77 in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drone, rocket, mortar and missile attacks have injured 69 U.S. troops, but a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday that no troops have been injured since Dec. 25.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it comes to U.S. forces in the region, again, we\u2019re there for one reason and one reason only, which is the enduring defeat of ISIS,\u201d Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters during a briefing. \u201cAnd so we will continue to call on these Iranian proxies to cease these attacks, but we won\u2019t hesitate, as we\u2019ve demonstrated in the past, to take appropriate action to protect our forces should we need to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. last struck a militia headquarters in central Baghdad on Jan. 4<\/a>, killing Abu Taqwa, the leader of a militia known to have participated in strikes on U.S. troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the Pentagon\u2019s second pre-planned strike inside Iraq since the barrage of attacks began in the fall, following a Dec. 26 retaliatory strike inside Iraq and three strikes on militia facilities in Syria in late 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the southern Red Sea region, attacks on international shipping lanes reached 27 on Thursday, Ryder said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryder said he did not know how many international ships are now patrolling the southern end of the Red Sea as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an international effort stood up late last year to protect commercial shipping vessels from the Houthis continued attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\t