U.S. military base in Iraq targeted by Iran as renewed fighting nears 2-week mark

U.S. strikes overnight appeared to target Iranian sites where naval assets are located

Drones carrying explosives targeted a city in northern Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran.

U.S.-led forces intercepted and shot down five drones over Irbil on Friday morning, according to security officials in northern Iraq. "Fortunately, the incident caused no casualties or damage," they said.

An Associated Press journalist heard at least seven blasts in the city, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and saw at least four plumes of black smoke rising from areas near or inside a base at the city's airport that hosts U.S. forces. Flights continued as normal at the airport, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported, citing the facility's director.

U.S. military officials in Iraq did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent years, the U.S. maintained about 2,500 troops in Iraq for training and to conduct operations against the Islamic State group with Iraq's military. Many of those have withdrawn, but a small contingent of military advisers and others remains — many of whom have moved to Irbil.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard urged people in neighbouring countries to stay away from bases with American troops while asking people to report the places where they are stationed, according to a statement read out on state TV.

As the U.S. has bombed Iran, Tehran has targeted several countries in the region that host American troops.

WATCH | Complications from the Houthis:Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. navy's Fifth Fleet, said it intercepted and shot down Iranian aerial attacks on Friday. It did not say if there were any casualties or damage.

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran has flared again after a pause lasting a few weeks which began in June. In recent days, the U.S. has pounded Iran while Tehran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted U.S. assets and allies in the region.

WATCH | Phony photo of Khamenei:Iran's Health Ministry said 55 people have been killed and over 600 wounded in strikes in recent weeks, while the U.S. has seen four service members killed in the past week.

U.S. strikes overnight hit a naval base for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the north of Iran, the semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA reported Friday morning. Blasts from U.S. bombardment overnight were also reported on Iran's Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

Blasts were also heard in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian airbase and one of Iran's nuclear sites.

'Major military punishment'

U.S. Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters" as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the strait, which was open to all toll-free before the war.

The Iranian-allied Houthi rebels added further pressure this week to commercial shipping traffic this week by targeting two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, making good on a threat to cut off an alternative route in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to ship the region's oil. Brent crude, the international standard, topped $100 US a barrel on Thursday in the wake of the attacks, though the rate has since come down.

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U.S. President Donald Trump threatened "major military punishment" for both Iran and the Houthis if attacks on ships continue.

The International Maritime Organization says at least 6,000 mariners are stranded on about 400 vessels around the Strait of Hormuz.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, called Friday for "urgent action" to help them. His office said the seafarers are exposed to the fighting and some have been abandoned by their ships' owners, leaving them to "fend for themselves without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their families."