Iraqi Shiite militia claims responsibility for attacks on U.S. bases in Syria, Iraq

BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi Shiite militia claimed on Sunday responsibility for a drone attack on a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria and a mortar strike on an Iraqi military base housing U.S. forces in western Iraq.

An armed group calling itself the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq," which is an umbrella body for Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, claimed in an online statement that its fighters had launched a drone attack on a U.S. military base in Tell Beydar area near the town of al-Hasakah in northeastern Syria, without giving further details.

Meanwhile, the Britain-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed explosions were heard on the U.S. base in the Tell Beydar area.

In another online statement, the militia said its fighters fired four mortar rounds on Sunday night at the Ayn al-Asad Airbase near the town of al-Baghdadi, some 190 km northwest of the capital Baghdad.

The militant group has previously claimed to have launched rocket and drone attacks on military bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria.

The announcement of the latest attacks came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a short visit to Baghdad and held a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani over the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.

After their meeting, Blinken told a press conference that a very clear message was sent to "those who threaten U.S. military personnel that they should not do so."