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| Iraq |
| Rocket attack targets US-led coalition in western Iraq |
| 2022-05-01 |
| [Rudaw] At least one rocket landed kilometers away from a military base housing American troops in western Iraq, marking the latest of several attacks, the US-led coalition confirmed to Rudaw on Saturday. A rocket landed four kilometers away from Ain al-Asad base in Anbar province at 7:55 pm without causing casualties, the coalition said. The rocket was fired from Heet city in the province, the force said. Iraqi Security Media Cell later raised the number of rockets to two, affirming that no casualties were reported. The facility, home to Iraqi army troops as well, has been subjected to at least three rocket and drone attacks since the start of the year. Earlier in the month, the US forced foiled a drone attack targeting the base. In recent months, tens of rockets have targeted Iraqi facilities hosting foreign diplomats and soldiers, including the US embassy in Baghdad. No group has grabbed credit for the assaults. Attacks on Iraqi bases, especially those hosting US troops, have increased since the US assassinated top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in January 2020. The US said at the time that Soleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq, a country long torn between the competing demands of its principal allies Washington and Tehran. Two rockets targeting a base in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition troops on Saturday crashed near the complex without causing casualties or damage, security sources said. The base, controlled by Iraq, is located in the desert in the western Anbar province and hosts foreign troops from the coalition fighting the Islamic State group. A coalition official told AFP there was "no impact on the installation reported" and "no coalition personnel injuries reported". A previously unknown group calling itself "International Resistance" claimed the attack on a pro-Iran channel of messaging app Telegram. Western officials have blamed hardline pro-Iran factions for the attacks, most of which go unclaimed. The coalition ended its combat mission in Iraq in December, four years after the Baghdad government declared victory over the jihadists. But roughly 2,500 American soldiers and 1,000 coalition soldiers remain deployed in three Iraqi-controlled bases across the country, including Ain al-Asad, to offer training, advice and assistance to national forces. Related: Ain al-Asad: 2022-01-08 US does not attribute recent offensives on military to specific group: official Ain al-Asad: 2022-01-06 US-coalition against ISIS faces dual attacks in Syria and Iraq by Iran-backed groups Ain al-Asad: 2022-01-05 US Forces Shoot Down Two Bomb Drones Approaching Facility In Iraq |
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