IED explosion targets a convoy of the Global Coalition heading to Kuwait
Shafaq News/ A blast from a roadside bomb hit a convoy of the U.S.-led in the southern governorate of al-Diwaniyah on Monday morning.
A statement issued by the Security Media Cell (SMC) said that the attack was carried out by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on al-Diwaniyah highway.
The convoy, according to the statement, was leaving Kuwait from the far south governorate of Basra.
The attack resulted in material damages to a vehicle, but the convoy resumed its march towards its destination.
Yesterday, three convoys of the Global Coalition were hit by three separate attacks in al-Anbar, Saladin, and Baghdad.
Observers believe that Iran-backed Iraqi factions orchestrate these nearly daily attacks against the convoys of the US-led Coalition in Iraq. The frequency of the attacks launched by the factions loyal to Iran increased drastically since the assassination of the Commander of Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, and the Deputy Head of al-Hashd al-Shaabi Authority, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in Baghdad in January 2020.
Heading into the first part of next year -with Qasem Soleimani's assassination anniversary, government formation process, and few other milestones- U.S. officials on multiple occasions anticipated an exacerbation of the attacks against U.S. interests in Iraq and Syria.
A main reason for the U.S. officials to believe that Iranian-backed groups will increase attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria around the new year is the U.S. combat forces scheduled conversion to an advisory role in Iraq on Dec. 31, per the agreement sealed between Washington and Baghdad.
On Dec. 9, the Iraqi government announced that U.S. troops had ended their combat mission. In reality, U.S. troops in Iraq made the transition to a training mission in July 2020, and thousands of U.S. troops will remain in both Iraq and Syria in this advisory role into 2022. The announcement was meant to ease pressure on the Iraqi government by Iranian-backed groups.
