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Iraq
An aerial view of Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province on December 29, 2019. File photo: Nasser Nasser/AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A military base housing American troops in western Iraq was targeted by explosive-laden drones on Tuesday, an official from the US-led coalition said with no casualties reported.
"Two fixed-wing drones rigged with explosives were engaged and destroyed by defensive capabilities at the Iraqi Al-Asad Air Base [Ain al-Asad],” the official told AFP.
"The attempted attack was unsuccessful. All forces are accounted for,” the source added.
Located in Anbar province, Ain al-Asad airbase hosts the US-led coalition personnel and Iraqi army troops.
The Iraqi Security Media Cell said the drones were shot down outside the vicinity of the base.
This is the second attack on the coalition in 24 hours.
The American troops shot down two explosive-laden drones targeting a compound at Baghdad airport housing its military troops early Monday morning as thousands of people commemorated the second anniversary of the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020.
The attack was ordered by former US President Donald Trump, who called Soleimani “the number one terrorist anywhere in the world” and claimed he was planning attacks on US forces.
The assassination sent US-Iran tensions soaring, and prompted a spate of rocket attacks on military bases in Iraq as Tehran threatened revenge for the general’s death.
"The aggressor and the main assassin, the then president of the United States, must face justice and retribution,” AFP quoted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as saying on Monday.
Most of the attacks on US bases are attributed to Iran-backed militia groups who oppose the American presence in the country.
There have been at least 30 reported rocket and drone attacks on bases and facilities housing US forces and personnel in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region last year, according to data compiled by Rudaw English.
Updated at 12:11 pm
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