UK troops at Iraq base shot down Iranian drones, Healey says

British forces based in Iraq shot down two Iranian drones overnight, Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed.

However, some drones hit the coalition base in the Iraqi city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, and injured a number of US troops.

Brigadier Guy Foden said the base and another in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad were struck "a number of times" on Wednesday night and British personnel are currently in Erbil helping to defend that base.

Since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, US bases in Iraq have been targeted in retaliation.

The Western base in Erbil is controlled by the US but often houses other coalition forces including British troops.

Foden said British forces "shot down two UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) coming out of the camp but a number of UAVs did impact the camp".

There were no British casualties in the attack.

Healey later told the BBC that from the point when Iran began "hitting back indiscriminately" at countries across the Middle East, there had been a British team involved in Iraq.

"We've had a team at the base in Erbil that's been pulling down drones, protecting themselves but also protecting the base and other service people that they serve with there," he said.

Healey was speaking during a visit to the UK's military headquarters in Northwood, north-west London, where he received a briefing on the latest situation on the Middle East.

He was told there is a "definitive link" between Iran and Russia in the way attack drones are being used.

Healey later told reporters that Iranian drone attacks have the hallmark of the way Russia is attacking Ukraine, adding: "No one will be surprised to believe that Putin's hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics."

The defence secretary said Putin was the "one world leader" benefiting from the war because of higher oil prices, which he saaid help the Russian president with a fresh supply of funds for his brutal war in Ukraine.