{"id":2984,"date":"2026-07-24T16:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2984"},"modified":"2026-07-24T16:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:04:38","slug":"drones-target-northern-iraqi-city-where-us-forces-are-based-as-us-iran-fighting-escalates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2984","title":{"rendered":"Drones target northern Iraqi city where US forces are based as US-Iran fighting escalates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By JULIA FRANKEL and STELLA MARTANY<\/strong><\/p>\n

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) \u2014 Drones carrying explosives targeted a city in northern Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed, and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, hours after the American military said it finished its\u00a013th night of strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n

Read more Colorado\u2019s oil and gas regulators studied health problems tied to drilling. Critics ask: Why will nothing change?<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0conflict has flared again\u00a0over the past week, as the U.S. pounded Iran while Tehran attacked ships in the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz\u00a0and targeted U.S. assets and allies in the region.<\/p>\n

The strait, which is a crucial passage for the world\u2019s energy supplies, is at the center of the latest fighting since Iranian attacks can effectively shut the waterway, sending fuel prices soaring worldwide and causing widespread economic turmoil. The Iranian-allied Houthi rebels added further pressure this week by targeting two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, making good on a threat to cut off an alternative route for the region\u2019s oil.<\/p>\n

Despite the war\u2019s unpopularity \u2014 and its widespread damage to Iran and the global economy \u2014 the latest round of fighting has no clear off-ramp. The Iranian Health Ministry says 3,434 people have been killed since the war began.<\/p>\n

The U.S. and Israel\u00a0attacked Iran on Feb. 28\u00a0and have offered shifting goals for the war, including toppling Tehran\u2019s government and eliminating its nuclear program. But the conflict has devolved into a fight for control of the strait \u2014 with Iran apparently hoping to win concessions by inflicting damage on the global economy.<\/p>\n

US strikes sites across Iran and countries in the region are targeted<\/h4>\n

U.S.-led forces shot down five explosive-laden drones Friday over Irbil, according to security officials in northern Iraq. No injuries or damage were reported.<\/p>\n

An Associated Press journalist heard at least seven blasts in the city, the capital of Iraq\u2019s semiautonomous Kurdish region, and saw at least four plumes of black smoke rising from areas near or inside a base at the city\u2019s airport that hosts U.S. forces. Flights continued as normal at the airport, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported, citing the facility\u2019s director. U.S. military officials in Iraq did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

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A small contingent of U.S. military advisers is based in Iraq, many of them in Irbil<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard urged people in neighboring countries to stay away from bases with American troops. The Guard said it had targeted the U.S. base in Udairi, Kuwait, setting ablaze three ammunition and storage sheds and destroying them. It also claimed to have struck a watchtower for the U.S. Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, which it said was damaged.<\/p>\n

U.S. Central Command did not respond to inquiries about the claims. Bahrain said it intercepted and shot down Iranian aerial attacks on Friday, but did not say if there were any casualties or damage.<\/p>\n

Jordan\u2019s armed forces said they had downed seven Iranian missiles and six drones Friday.<\/p>\n

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U.S. strikes hit a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran, the semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA reported. Blasts from U.S. bombardment overnight were also reported on Iran\u2019s Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels in\u00a0the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran\u2019s nuclear sites.<\/p>\n

More strikes reportedly hit Iran\u2019s southwest Khuzestan province and southern Fars province.<\/p>\n

Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to \u201cfurther degrade Iran\u2019s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters\u201d as the Americans push to regain control over the strait, through which one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil and gas transited in peacetime.<\/p>\n