Drones shot down at Anbar airbase, US-run facility hit in Baghdad

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province and the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC) were both targeted within the same hour shortly after midnight on Sunday.

“The air defense system at Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province, at 00:30 hours today, June 6, confronted two drones and managed to shoot them down,” Iraq’s Security Media Cell announced on twitter Sunday morning.

The attack came shortly after a rocket struck near the BDSC in the Iraqi capital. 

“At approximately 0015 local time, the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC) was attacked by one rocket round. The rocket impacted near the BDSC and caused no injuries or damage,” coalition spokesperson Colonel Wayne Marotto tweeted early Sunday morning. 

Attacks on Iraqi bases, especially those hosting US troops, have increased since the US assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in January 2020. Most of the attacks are blamed on Iranian-backed militia groups who have called for the withdrawal of US troops in the country.

Iraqi Security Media Cell just last month reported at least two rocket attacks on the Ain al-Asad air base. 

In its quarterly report on operations against the Islamic State (ISIS), the Pentagon said militia attacks have had “minimal impact” on the mission against ISIS but the report stated such groups “threaten Iraq’s long term security.”