Iran-backed Shiite Militia in Iraq Kills 2 IDF Soldiers in Drone Attack

An Iran-backed Shiite militia in Iraq launched two drones toward Israel on Friday, one of which was not detected and killed two soldiers at a military base while injuring others. The other drone was detected, intercepted, and destroyed.

The attack marked the first time a militia in Iraq had succeeded in killing Israelis. It was also a reminder that Israel is fighting a war on seven fronts at once: Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, the West Bank, Iraq, and domestic terrorism.

The soldiers were Sgt. Daniel Aviv Haim Sofer, 19, and Cpl. Tal Dror, 19.

The Times of Israel reported:

According to an IDF probe, two explosive-laden drones were launched from Iraq in the attack, one of which was shot down by air defenses and the second impacted an army base in the northern Golan Heights.

In addition to the two slain soldiers, another 24 were wounded in the attack, including two seriously, one moderately, and 21 lightly.

The IDF is reportedly investigating why the second drone was not detected.

Israel’s Army Radio reported that they were both from the Golani Brigade, one of the IDF’s elite unites. One soldier was seriously wounded, one moderately wounded, and the others lightly wounded.

Israel has not yet responded directly to the Shiite militias, but that could change.

Separately, on Friday, Israeli officials acknowledged that 23 of the 200 missiles fired by Iran this week penetrated the country’s air defenses and hit air bases, though without doing significant damage. (19 of the missiles never reached Israel.) The rate of impact was much higher than in the attack in April, when only two of roughly 300 missiles fired by Iran hit Israel.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.