Drones Target Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad Airbase, No Casualties, Say Military Sources

An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)
An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)
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Drones Target Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad Airbase, No Casualties, Say Military Sources

An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)
An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. (AFP)

Two armed drones on Tuesday targeted Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase, which hosts US forces and other international forces in western Iraq, two Iraqi military sources told Reuters.

It was the second attack against US forces in Iraq since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against US troops.

In April, two drones were shot down near Ain al-Asad base, according to a US official.

No casualties have been reported, said the sources.

An Iraqi military official said defense systems downed one drone near the base perimeter.

Iraqi army patrols stepped up patrolling the areas around the base to prevent possible further attacks, said an Iraqi army official.

The attack came less than a week before an expected visit by a high-level Iraqi military delegation to Washington to continue talks on ending the US-led military coalition in the country.

Washington and Baghdad in January initiated talks to reassess the draw-down of the US-led coalition in Iraq, formed in 2014 to help fight the ISIS group that overran large parts of the country.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a projectile appears to have targeted the base, but without causing casualties.



IOM: More Than 10 Million People Displaced by Sudan War

Families sit beneath clotheslines as they await meals provided through a charity initiative at a displacement camp in Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 13, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Families sit beneath clotheslines as they await meals provided through a charity initiative at a displacement camp in Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 13, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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IOM: More Than 10 Million People Displaced by Sudan War

Families sit beneath clotheslines as they await meals provided through a charity initiative at a displacement camp in Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 13, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Families sit beneath clotheslines as they await meals provided through a charity initiative at a displacement camp in Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 13, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

More than 10 million Sudanese, or 20% of the population, have been driven from their homes since the war there began, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday, as the world's largest displacement crisis continues to worsen.
The number is the latest dire figure out of the east African country, devastated by a conflict that began in April 2023. The war has left half the population of about 50 million facing a hunger crisis and in need of humanitarian aid, the most of any country.
More than 2.2 million people have fled to other countries since the war began, while almost 7.8 million sought refuge inside the country, the IOM said in a bimonthly report. An additional 2.8 million people were already displaced by previous conflicts in the country.
"All refugees I met said the reason why they fled Sudan was hunger," said World Health Organization country director Dr. Shible Sahbani to reporters after visiting refugees from Darfur, the source of half of the displaced population, in Chad.
"A woman who just reached Adré reported that all food they used to produce locally in Darfur was taken by the fighters," he added.
Many displaced are now in Gedaref state, which hosts 668,000 people who face heavy rains with limited shelter, and where RSF units have staged incursions.