Three drones attack US bases in Iraq as tensions flare after Gaza hospital airstrike

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US coalition forces were injured in Iraq in a spate of drone attacks over the last 24 hours at US bases in Iraq as regional tensions flare following the deadly Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds.

Two drones targeted a base in western Iraq used by US forces and one drone targeted a base in northern Iraq, Associated Press reported. US forces intercepted all three, destroying two but only damaging the third, which led to minor injuries among coalition forces at the western base, according to a statement Wednesday by U.S. Central Command.

"In this moment of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and the region. US forces will defend US and coalition forces against any threat," Central Command said in the release.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have threatened to attack US facilities there because of American support for Israel.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias, issued a statement afterward claiming responsibility for the two attacks and saying it ¿heralds more operations¿ against the "American occupation."

The salvos came at a time of increasing tension and fears of a broader regional conflict in the wake of the latest Hamas-Israel war.

Since the beginning of the war on October 7, much attention has been focused on Hezbollah, the powerful Hamas ally across Israel's northern border in Lebanon, and its formidable arsenal. The group has traded so-far limited strikes with Israel on the border in recent days.

But Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have also threatened to attack US facilities over American support for Israel.

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"Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle," Ahmad Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement last Wednesday. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.

Following Tuesday night's blast that killed hundreds at a hospital in Gaza, the group issued another statement in which it blamed the US and its support for Israel for the catastrophe and called for an end to the US presence in Iraq. Hamas has said the explosion in Gaza was from an Israeli airstrike, while Israel has blamed a misfired rocket by Palestinian militants.

"These evil people must leave the country. Otherwise, they will taste the fire of hell in this world before the afterlife," the statement said.

A US defence official, who wasn't authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attack on the al-Asad military base in western Iraq.

Tashkil al-Waritheen, one of the Iranian-backed militias making up the larger group, claimed responsibility in a statement for a second drone attack, which it said had targeted the al-Harir airbase in northern Iraq. US officials did not immediately comment on the claim of a second attack.

The government of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq said an intercepted drone crashed in an open area near the village of Batas. (With inputs from AP)