Four rockets hit Balad air base: security cell

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Four Katyusha rockets hit Balad air base in Iraq’s Salahaddin province late on Monday, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell.

It is the second attack on an Iraqi base in 24 hours, with rockets targeting Baghdad International Airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops, on Sunday evening.

In a statement published by state media, the cell said it has “launched a wide security operation, based on accurate intelligence information, to search for terrorists who launched four Katyusha rockets from the Nai area in al-Khalis district at 8pm.”

No casualties have been reported.

Pentagon press secretary John F. Kirby confirmed the attack to reporters but said that the base does not house US troops. 

“Balad is an Iraqi base. There are no US or coalition troops assigned there. There is a private US company that does have contractors working there,” he said, adding that the attack did not result in any US casualties. 

“We are concerned about any use of violence by any group in Iraq.”

The base has been previously been subject to frequent rocket attacks. Two members of the Iraqi security forces were injured in a rocket attack on the base earlier this month. 

Attacks on Iraqi bases, especially those hosting US troops, have increased since the US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020, leading to a non-binding parliamentary resolution to expel all foreign troops from the country.

The attacks are blamed on Iranian-backed militia groups who have called for the withdrawal of US troops in the country.