Rocket hits Ain al-Asad airbase, no casualties reported

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi security forces (ISF) have opened an investigation after a Katyusha rocket hit Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province on Sunday afternoon, Iraq’s Security Media Cell has said.

The cell said that the unexploded missile was launched towards the base from the al-Baghdadi area in Anbar. No casualties were recorded.

Frequent attacks on the Baghdad airport and military bases around the country housing US troops are blamed on Iranian-backed militias who want to force American troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Balad airbase, in Salahaddin province, was hit by three rockets last week. Two days later, Iraqi forces found four more rockets ready to launch towards the base.

Ain al-Asad, which houses personnel from the US-led coalition and the Iraqi army, was last hit in May.

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.

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

The US has offered up to $3 million for information on attacks in Iraq.