Iran-backed group eyed attack on US bases in Iraq:
Iranian-backed militants recently received specialist training inside Iran to help mount an attack on American military bases in Iraq, the top US commander in Baghdad said on Tuesday.
General Ray Odierno detailed a plot in which he said Ketaib Hezbollah, a Tehran-sponsored Shiite insurgent group, had planned an attack in recent weeks, prompting the US army to increase its security measures.
"There has been some intelligence of Iranian surrogates attempting to attack US bases, which we are watching very carefully," Odierno told reporters at Camp Victory, a giant US base west of the capital.
"In the last couple of weeks there has been an increased threat of a potential Iran attack ... so we have increased our security in some of our bases," said the general, who commands all 74,000 US troops stationed in Iraq.
"This is another attempt by Iran and others to attempt to influence the US role here inside of Iraq," he added, naming Ketaib Hezbollah as the militant group behind the conspiracy, and describing the threat as "consistent".
The US military maintains that Shiite militant groups backed by Iran have in recent years been used to bolster Tehran's influence in Iraq, which remains without a new government four months after an inconclusive general election.
The disclosure of a plan to attack American military facilities comes as Washington withdraws combat troops from the country.
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