US holds offensive arms in military base in Iraq
Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, arrives in Baghdad in May 2021. Photo: AP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Despite an agreement to turn the combative mission of US troops in Iraq into an advisory one, the US is stockpiling offensive military equipment at Ain Al-Assad base in western Iraq.
A senior Iraqi military official told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that he had seen weaponry, including Black Hawk and Apache helicopters, during a recent visit to the air base in Anbar governorate.
The official explained that this was against the terms of the agreement reached in 2021, which permitted the advising task group to have defensive weapons there.
According to the source, the base also included sophisticated radar and monitoring systems.
In mid-August, the Pentagon Press Secretary, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, denied that the United States had moved or deployed additional reinforcements on the Iraq-Syria border.
Ryder also denied that the US military has any plans to seal off the border or some points of entry along the border.
A security source in Anbar governorate mentioned earlier that planes carrying soldiers, advisors, and civilians arrived at Ain Al-Assad air base without knowing their numbers, Al-Maalomah News reported.
The source expected that these planes would carry American soldiers, advisors, experts, and military equipment on board.
“Ain Al-Assad base witnessed an unusual movement of military transport aircraft that landed inside the air base with the US warplanes overflying the base to secure the arrival of these planes,” the source explained.
The US forces have tightened security protection measures at all their sites in the western regions of Iraq for precautionary reasons, the source added.