US air defenses shoot down drones near Iraq air base

Drones were intercepted and brought down near the air base that hosts US forces.
A picture taken on Jan. 13, 2020, during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State, shows a US soldier walking past a drone at the Ain al-Asad air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.
A picture taken on Jan. 13, 2020, during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State, shows a US soldier walking past a drone at the Ayn al-Asad air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - AYMAN HENNA/AFP via Getty Images
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

US air defense systems shot down two drones near Ayn al-Asad air base shortly after midnight on Sunday, Iraq’s military said.

The encroachment, knocked down by US counter-rocket, artillery and mortar systems (C-RAM), is the latest targeting the base that houses Western military contractors and has been home to US Reaper drones used largely in operations against the Islamic State (IS).

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