BAGHDAD – The United States is sending missiles and drones to Iraq to counter attacks by Al-Qaeda, which have killed more than 8,000 Iraqis this year, officials said.

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Justin Cole communicates with the pilot of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle prior to a night mission from Ali Air Base, Iraq on November 5, 2007. PHOTO: U.S. Air Force

A shipment of 75 Hellfire missiles was sent to Iraq last week and 10 ScanEagle reconnaissance drones are scheduled to be delivered by March, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned Sunday Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents are “seeking to gain control of territory inside the borders of Iraq.”

The affiliate, she said, is a “common enemy of the United States and the Republic of Iraq, and a threat to the greater Middle East region.”

Michael Knights, an expert on Iraqi security at the Washington Institute for Near East policy questioned the lack of armed drones being sent to Iraq.

“The real requirement today is for a long-range, high-endurance armed drone capability,” he said. “There is one place in the world where Al-Qaeda can run a major affiliate without fear of a U.S. drone or air attack, and that is in Iraq and Syria.”

Iraq’s foreign minister has suggested the idea of having U.S.-operated armed Predator or Reaper drones respond to the Al-Qaeda threat though Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hasn’t formally requested such intervention, Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council said.  

-UPI