US base in Iraq under rocket attack?

According to the radio SputnikThe above sources confirmed that two rockets fell outside the Ain al-Asad airbase. A source in the US coalition said there were no reports of casualties on their side.

On the Telegram app, the paramilitary organization Al-Muqawama al-Dawliya – founded in early 2021 – claimed responsibility for the attack.

Channel Sabereen News on Telegram affiliated with the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (IPMF) reported that at least four BM-21 Grad rockets were launched at the Ain al-Asad airbase on April 30, of which two fell. outside this area.

Ain al-Asad Air Base. Photo: AP

Ain al-Asad is located about 160 km west of Baghdad. It has been targeted several times in recent weeks due to the presence of the US military. Last month, the base was attacked by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), forcing the US C-RAM air defense system to activate.

On April 26, the al-Taji base north of Baghdad was also hit by rockets, but there were no casualties and no group claimed responsibility.

In neighboring Syria, four US service members suffered minor injuries after rockets hit two buildings at the Green Village base in early April. The base was also hit by eight rockets in January.

According to the radio SputnikAttacks on US forces in Iraq have increased sharply since the assassination of Quds force commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Qasem Soleimani, in January 2020. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad.

Most recently, on May 1, an oil refinery in the city of Erbil, northern Iraq, was attacked by rockets, causing a fire, but the fire was quickly brought under control. Reuters quoted Iraqi security forces as saying a missile also landed on the fence outside the refinery but caused no casualties.

Earlier in the day, the Kurdistan regional authorities said that six rockets launched from Nineveh province had landed near the KAR oil refinery in the city of Erbil. Security forces found a launcher and four missiles in the Nineveh Plains after the attack. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi vowed to find the culprit.