BAGHDAD: Two drones launched from Iran towards Israel were shot down over Iraq by the US-led international coalition to defeat the IS group, two Iraqi military officials said on Sunday. "The international coalition at Ain al Asad (military base) shot down two Iranian drones that were en route to Israel," one official said, referring to an Iraqi airbase housing foreign troops in western Iraq.
The drones were shot down overnight on Saturday to Sunday, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The other official said the drones were targeted because they entered the defensive perimeter of the anti-jihadist coalition, where troops are instructed to engage any potential threat.
Several missiles and drones have fallen in Iraqi territory, mostly in the desert, without causing casualties. An "explosive drone" was shot down by the coalition at Ain al Asad on Friday, according to an Iraqi official. The government in Baghdad is a close ally of Tehran, but also a strategic partner of Iran's arch-foe the United States, which has some 2,500 troops in Iraq as part of the coalition. Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the coalition's forces. — AFP
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