Iranian-Backed Militia Attacks Base

On 30 June,three U.S. troops were killed and seven wounded in a rocket attack on Camp Shocker,a base on the Iran-Iraq border.A Shiite militia with Iranian and Lebanese ties,Kataib Hezbollah,or Hezbollah Brigades,is being blamed for the attack.They had claimed responsibility for a similar action that killed five U.S. troops earlier in the month.
Kataib Hezbollah has ties to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.They are focusing on attacking U.S. soldiers in Iraq,believing that American forces may remain in Iraq beyond the 31 December deadline for withdrawal agreed with the Iraqi government.These militants use a weapon called IRAMs,or improvised rocket-assisted mortars,which are only made in Iran.
Fifteen U.S. troops died in the Iraq War in June,the most since April 2009.Fourteen of them were killed in action.Besides Kataib Hezbollah,two other Shiite militias have been involved in recent attacks on Americans:League of the Righteous and Promised Day Brigades.
Iran denies it is supporting these militants,who post videos of their attacks on Americans on the Internet.Many of their leaders fled to Iran in 2008 when U.S. and Iraqi forces went after them in the summer of that year.Several other militia leaders were captured in that operation.Besides IRAMs,these militants use improvised explosive devices,mortars,rockets,rocket-propelled grenades and small arms in their attacks.