US Logistics Convoy Targeted amid Growing Calls for Occupation’s Withdrawal from Iraq

By Staff, Agencies

A roadside bomb has targeted a convoy carrying logistical equipment belonging to the US occupation forces in Iraq’s central Babil Province, as more voices are being raised against the prolonged presence of American forces on Iraqi soil.

The incident took place near the Kalsu Bridge on Monday, reports said, without elaborating.

A security source told Iraq’s Shafaq News Agency that the convoy was carrying logistical support equipment for the US-led coalition.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the operation, which was the latest in a series of blasts targeting US occupation forces in Iraq in recent months amid rising anti-US sentiment there.

Nevertheless, an Iraqi group known as Ashab al-Kahf released a video of the incident on social media. The group has in the past repeatedly claimed attacks against convoys of US occupation forces.

On Saturday, Ashab al-Kahf announced the beginning of a new round of armed attacks against US interests dubbed 'Karbala Operation.'

American occupation forces are required to leave Iraq under a resolution passed by the Arab country’s parliament on January 5, 2020.

It was approved two days after the US assassinated Iran’s anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units [PMU], better known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, two influential figures in the fight against Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group].

However, Washington has been dragging its feet on the troop pullout and targeting anti-terror groups from time to time.

Washington and Baghdad recently reached an agreement on the American military’s withdrawal, under which the US intends to keep its troops on Iraqi soil under the guise of providing advisory assistance to the Iraqi military.