Washington, Aug 6 (AP) Five US service members and two contractors were injured when two rockets hit a military base in Iraq, US officials said on Tuesday, providing a bit more detail about the Monday strike.

The officials said five of those injured were being treated at the al-Asad airbase and two were evacuated, but all seven are in stable condition. They did not provide details on who was evacuated.

Also Read | Bangladesh Unrest: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde Urges MEA for Urgent Assistance, Safe Return of Students.

The rocket attack is the latest in what has been an uptick in strikes on US forces by Iranian-backed militias. It comes as tensions across the Middle East are spiking but is not believed to be connected to the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran, in suspected Israeli strikes. Both groups are backed by Iran.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

Also Read | Rabindranath Tagore Death Anniversary 2024: Visva-Bharati University Moves Event To Mark India's First Nobel Laureate's Death Anniversary From Bangladesh Bhavan.

In recent weeks, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have resumed launching attacks on bases housing US forces in Iraq and Syria after a lull of several months, following a strike on a base in Jordan in late January that killed three American soldiers and prompted a series of retaliatory US strikes.

Between October and January, an umbrella group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq had regularly claimed attacks that it said were in retaliation for Washington's support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and were aimed at pushing US troops out of the region. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)