A drone strike group, loaded down with explosives were shot out of the sky near the Baghdad International Airport. The two suicide drones appeared to be targeting American soldiers of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), housed in the military area of the BIA. An official with CTF-OIR confirmed that the military base’s defense systems successfully engaged “two fixed-wing suicide drones. They were shot down without incident”. The attack came as Iran and Iranian back Iraqis marked the second anniversary of the drone strike that killed Iranian General and Terrorist head of the Quds Force (internationally recognized as a terror group) Qassem Soleimani and Iranian aligned Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on Jan. 3, 2020.
“This was a dangerous attack on a civilian airport,” the coalition official said in a brief statement.
According to reporting from Reuters, no Americans or Iraqis were injured in the thwarted attack. The Times of Israel has reported that coinciding with the drone attack, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed revenge against President Trump again, unless he stands trial for the death of Soleimani.
Raisi, addressing Tehran’s largest prayer hall, said: “The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the United States, must face justice and retribution” alongside former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo “and other criminals.”
“Otherwise, I will tell all US leaders that without a doubt the hand of revenge will emerge from the sleeve of the Muslim nation.”
Hackers near-simultaneously attacked media in Israel, implanting messaging that seems linked to the strike that killed Soleimani, suggesting an attack on our ally’s nuclear infrastructure.
“The website of the English-language Jerusalem Post and the Twitter account of Hebrew-language Maariv were taken over with a picture of a fist firing a shell out of a ring with a red stone, like one Soleimani used to wear.
The Jerusalem Post said its website was hacked to feature an image of a model of Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility being blown up, along with the message “we are close to you where you do not think about it” in English and Hebrew.”
A Weak Attempt At Revenge for Soleimani Drone Strike
Nafiseh Kohnavard of the BBC reported that the drones were shot down by the base’s ‘Centurion‘ C-RAM anti-rocket, artillery and mortar defense system at about 0430 local time. The intent of the attackers, still yet to be identified, was made clear by what was found in the wreckage.
“On the wings it’s written: “Leader’s revenge” & “Soleimani’s revenge”
Correction & more pix
Two “Suicide Drones” aimed at Baghdad airport, housing US-led coalition, were shot down by US def system, C-RAM at around 0430 this morning.
On the wings it’s written: “Leader’s revenge” & “Soleimani’s revenge” pic.twitter.com/mdUAOuG4mc
— Nafiseh Kohnavard (@nafisehkBBC) January 3, 2022
Iranian President Raisi, then a “judiciary chief” threatened retaliation targeting President Trump last year at the first anniversary of the attack as well in January 2021. At a Tehran University gathering, Raisi warned, “they will witness severe revenge. What has come so far has only been glimpses.”
“Do not presume that someone, as the president of America, who appeared as a murderer or ordered a murder, may be immune from justice being carried out. Never. Those who had a role in this assassination and crime will not be safe on Earth.”
Raisi has featured this type of rhetoric, combined with similarly symbolic, weak attacks, easily thwarted by the technologically superior US military regularly to elevate himself politically within the Tehran regime.
Check out this awesome briefing on our C-RAM defense system that protects our deployed forces.
