After President Trump ordered a drone attack on Jan. 3 that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, reports and domestic intelligence are claiming that Iran is planning a retaliatory attack on Americans currently stationed in Africa.
The majority of the information is sourced from Army General Stephen Townsend, the head of US African Command. In a meeting with Senate Armed Services CommitteeTownsend said that “There’s intelligence reporting that comports with that”.
Additionally, Townsend reports that the Quds Force, a wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that’s stationed overseas, and Hezbollah, a political movement in Lebanon, are the primary military forces that Iran is mobilizing for the attack.
This possible attack is not the first action that Iran is taking after the assassination. On Jan. 7, a ballistic missile strike was issued against US bases in Iraq.
However, officials have decided to not remove all of the troops from Africa. In a statement from Defense Secretary Mark Esper, he stated that although there were concerns that Trump would immediately evacuate troops from Africa like he did in Syria and Iraq, there are no plans to follow that trend.
“We’re not going to totally withdraw forces from Africa,” Esper said.
