Several US personnel were injured in a rocket attack on a military base in Iraq on Monday, officials said, further fuelling already heightened regional tensions over a possible Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel.
The rocket attack is the latest in a series of strikes targeting the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq, which houses American troops as well as troops from the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group.
“A suspected rocket attack occurred today against U.S. and coalition forces,” a U.S. defense spokesman said. “Initial indications are that a number of U.S. personnel were injured.”
The spokesperson said “base staff are assessing the damage caused by the attack” and an update will be provided as more information becomes available.
The White House said US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been briefed about the attack.
“They discussed the steps being taken to protect our forces and our ability to respond to any attack on our personnel, in the manner and place we choose,” the statement said.
An Iraqi military source had earlier said that several rockets were fired at the base, some of which fell inside the base while another fell in a nearby village but caused no damage.
A commander of a pro-Iran armed group told AFP that at least two rockets had hit the base, though he did not say who carried out the attack.
Another source in the group and a security source confirmed the attack.
Such attacks were frequent early in the war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza but have since largely stopped.
The latest rocket attack comes amid growing fears of a possible attack on Israel by Iran and its allies following Israeli strikes last week that killed top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, attacks that were either blamed on Israel or claimed by Israel.
– Series of attacks –
The killings, for which both Iran and Hezbollah have vowed revenge, are among the most serious series of retaliatory attacks yet, raising fears of a regional conflict sparked by the Gaza war.
The Iran-aligned “axis of resistance” against Israel, which also includes Iraqi groups and Yemen’s Houthis, has already been drawn into the nearly 10-month-long war.
A US official said Monday’s rocket attack came after US forces last week attacked fighters who were attempting to launch drones seen as a threat to American and allied troops.
The attack, which Iraqi sources said killed four people, was the first by US forces in Iraq since February.
Recently, two attacks have been carried out in Iraq targeting the bases of American and allied forces – on 16th and 25th July.
US troops had not been targeted in Iraq and Syria since April. But attacks against them were very common during the first few months of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, when they were targeted more than 175 times.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of pro-Iran groups, claimed responsibility for most of the attacks and said they were showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
In January, three US soldiers were killed at a base in Jordan in a drone attack blamed on these groups. In retaliation, the US military carried out dozens of strikes against Tehran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
Baghdad has sought to ease tensions, and hold talks with Washington over the future of the U.S.-led coalition’s mission in Iraq, while Iran-backed groups demand a withdrawal.
The US military has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
