Two Kataib Hezbollah members arrested earlier for the Ain al-Asad attack were released under pressure and proceeded to investigate four people from a different paramilitary faction in a bid to pin the attack on them, two security sources confirmed to The New Region.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for a missile and drone attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq on Monday, injuring at least five U.S. military personnel. 

A group, calling themselves "The Revolutionaries”, launched the attack from Anbar’s Haditha district and vowed to continue until US troops leave Iraq.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to The New Region, a security source said that the four people investigated by security forces are not the actual perpetrators.

“The owners of the vehicle (from which the missiles were launched) belonged to Kataib Hezbollah and security forces arrested them,” the source said. “However, Kataib threatened the security forces to release them.”

The statement was further confirmed by another security source, who said that not only were the two people released, but security forces are investigating members of another paramilitary group.

The source said that after “releasing the Kataib members, the security authorities investigated officials from the al-Jghaifa brigade (Brigade 57).”

The source added that the process was done “to pin the blame on them since they were in charge of the area from which the missiles were launched.”

Speaking to reporters on Monday, US State Department Matthew Miller said that they have spoken to the Iraqi government about the attack that injured their personnel.

“They have announced publicly that they have launched an investigation and arrested a number of suspects in connection with the attack,” Miller said.

An Iraqi paramilitary commander on Tuesday told The New Region that the attack was in response to an attack the week earlier on Jurf al-Sakhar.

Last Tuesday, the Pentagon said that US forces had carried out a “defensive” strike in Babil province targeting fighters who were trying to launch attack drones.

A Yemeni technical expert was among the four people killed in the strike.

According to the senior military commander, who spoke to The New Region on the condition of anonymity, the three Kataib Hezbollah members and the Yemeni Houthi technical expert “were testing a new generation of drones” near one of the Kataib Hezbollah’s headquarters in Jurf al-Sakhar when the strike targeted them

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command on Tuesday condemned the attack on Anbar’s Ain al-Asad airbase, rejecting any interior or foreign attack on Iraqi land and interests.