Rocket hits Ain al-Asad airbase

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar was hit by a rocket on Monday afternoon, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell. 

A Katyusha missile landed in the vicinity of the base just before 2pm, the cell tweeted. No casualties or damage has been reported.

The airbase houses personnel from the US-led coalition and the Iraqi army.

Coalition spokesperson Colonel Wayne Marotto has said that the attack is under investigation.

“Ain al-Asad Air Base (AAAB) was attacked by one rocket round. No injuries reported. Damage is being assessed. The attack is under investigation,” he tweeted, adding that such attacks undermine “the authority of Iraqi institutions, the rule of law and Iraqi national sovereignty.”

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.

Ain al-Asad was hit by an explosives-laden drone earlier this month.

In its quarterly report on anti-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.