US Offers $3 Million for Information on Iraq Attacks

A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)
A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)
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US Offers $3 Million for Information on Iraq Attacks

A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)
A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)

The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice program said Thursday it was offering a reward of up to $3 million for information on attacks against Americans in Iraq.

The announcement comes a day after an attack was carried out with three "explosive-laden" drones on Baghdad airport, where US troops are deployed.

"O faithful people of Iraq, cowardly terrorists are attacking US diplomatic missions in Iraq, then they are fleeing to hide among civilians," said a statement in Arabic on the Twitter account of Rewards for Justice.

"America is offering a reward of up to $3 million for information on planned attacks or past ones against American diplomatic installations," said the statement, which was accompanied by a video.

It provided a US telephone number, and said the information could be sent via the messaging apps Whatsapp, Telegram or Signal.

US interests in Iraq have come under repeated attacks since October 2019, including with rockets, with the United States routinely blaming them on Iran-backed factions.

Since the beginning of the year, a total of 42 attacks have targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraqi bases housing US troops or Iraqi convoys carrying logistical support.

The latest attack on Wednesday was carried out with three drones packed with explosives, the Iraqi army said on Thursday.

It said one of the drones had been intercepted by air defenses Wednesday evening, the fourth such drone attack in less than two months.

Experts say the use of such drones marks an escalation in attacks against American interests by pro-Iranian forces.

The techniques are similar to those deployed by the Houthis in Yemen against Saudi Arabia, according to AFP.

Wednesday's attack was the first such attack on targets in the Iraqi capital, the Arab world's second-most populated city.

On Wednesday, five rockets also landed at Balad, an airbase further north where American contractors are based, a security source said.

They did not cause any casualties or damage, the source said.

The Balad base has been targeted so regularly that US weapons firm Lockheed Martin withdrew last month, citing concerns about the safety of its personnel.

Pro-Iran groups on Wednesday had hailed what they described as "one more victory" for the state-affiliated Hashed Al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition, as commander Qassem Muslah was released.

Muslah had been arrested in May by police intelligence on suspicion of ordering the killing of Ihab al-Wazni, a pro-democracy activist shot dead earlier that month by unidentified gunmen on motorbikes.

Iraqi authorities have repeatedly blamed "outlaws" of carrying out "terrorist" attacks with rockets or explosive-laded drones but have struggled to identify those behind these assaults.



Israel Wants to Set up Buffer Zone in Southern Lebanon Until Army Is Deployed

 Smoke rise next to damaged buildings on an area of a village in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Kibbutz Manara, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rise next to damaged buildings on an area of a village in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Kibbutz Manara, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP)
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Israel Wants to Set up Buffer Zone in Southern Lebanon Until Army Is Deployed

 Smoke rise next to damaged buildings on an area of a village in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Kibbutz Manara, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rise next to damaged buildings on an area of a village in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Kibbutz Manara, northern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP)

The Israeli army has been preventing the residents of southern Lebanon’s villages from returning to their homes, warning them against going back.

In a statement to the residents, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said they are barred from returning home “until further notice.”

He warned that anyone heading to the barred areas would be putting their lives in danger.

However, the majority of the villages and towns mentioned by the Israeli army are located north of the Litani River.

A security sources said the army’s warning “is confusing and unacceptable, especially since it is continuing its razing of agricultural lands in Khiam city and other villages near the border.”

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The only explanation for this is that Israel is trying to impose a buffer zone in the 60-day period offered by the ceasefire until the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers can continue their deployment along the southern border and the monitoring committee can begin its work.”

The Israeli actions are a violation of the ceasefire, which went into effect on Wednesday, added the source.

The violations demand immediate political effort sand contacts with US officials so that they can put a stop to them and speed up the formation of the five-member committee that will be chaired by an American officer, he stated.

Military and strategic expert General Nizar Abdel Qader said: “Israel’s gains on the ground and its success in imposing its conditions in the ceasefire agreement have led it to believe that it has the final say” in the South.

“True, it did not achieve a crushing victory against Hezbollah, but it proved its military superiority and achieved major gains,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.”

“It is preventing the residents of the South from returning home because it fears that Hezbollah members may be among them. It has learned lessons from its withdrawal from the South in 2000 when Hezbollah imposed its total and sole control of the border,” he remarked.

“It also learned its lesson from its withdrawal in 2006 when it let the Lebanese state oversee the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and soon after Hezbollah built a much more powerful military arsenal,” he noted.

Moreover, Abdel Qader said the Israeli violations cannot be separated from what is happening in Israel itself. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believed that it was too soon to declare a ceasefire and he instead said that Israel did not stop the war and can launch it all over again.

The violations in the South are part of political maneuvers that Netanyahu is using to hide his “embarrassment in front of the Israeli opposition and are attempts to calm the extremist ministers in his government,” he explained.

Residents of the South have acknowledged that Israel is in fact dictating their return to their homes. They said that Hezbollah was the one who called the shots in 2006, but this is not the case now.

Sami, a resident of Yohmor north of the Litani, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel has been relentlessly attacking his town.

It is dangerous for people to return to their homes, he warned, revealing that Israel has imposed a no-go zone 5 km deep into Lebanon.

Israel has so far not fulfilled its side of the ceasefire, he noted.