“Four Katyusha rockets landed inside Besmaya military base this afternoon. The first one landed on a warehouse for armoured [vehicles], the second one hit the portables belonging to the regiment who protect the military base, and two other rockets landed in an empty area,” read a statement from the Cell.
“According to initial reports, the rockets were launched from the al-Dainiyah region in Diyala province,” the statement added.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The Diyala area is a known hotspot for Islamic State (ISIS) militants. Iraqi and Kurdish forces launched an extensive operation against ISIS in the province two weeks ago.
سقوط ٤ صواريخ نوع كاتيوشا داخل معسكر بسماية عصر اليوم، حيث سقط الأول على مستودع للدورع والثاني على كرفانات تابعة لفوج حماية المعسكر والصاروخين الآخرين سقطا في ساحة فارغة، مما ادى الى أضرار مادية فقط دون وقوع خسائر بشرية ... pic.twitter.com/n8WcgdHiNG
— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) July 24, 2020
The rocket attack occurred on the eve of the planned handover of the base, located in southeastern Baghdad province.
Updating reporters on the Global Coalition against ISIS operations earlier this week, Maj Gen Kenneth Ekman, Deputy Commander of the Coalition, said that Spain will hand over Besmaya military base to Iraqi Army on Saturday.
“[W]e will take another step by handing over control of the base Besmaya to the Iraqis. Spain led the coalition effort in their training of 50,000 ISF since 2015. Their work is done there,” he said.
The scheduled handover was first made public in early June. “In the late summer, Spanish troops will be withdrawn from the Besmaya Range Complex, Iraq. The base is one of the Building Partner Capacity centers run by the US-led international anti-ISIS Coalition,” read a Coalition statement sent to Rudaw at the time. Coalition member Spain will keep 80 military personnel in Iraq to continue their current training of Iraqi security forces.
The handover is part of the Coalition scaling back operations in Iraq. International forces have so far given control of six military bases to the Iraqi Army. Iraqi Security Forces are “quite capable” and able to conduct unilateral military operations on their own, Ekman explained in his press conference. It is because of the Iraqi capabilities that international forces are able to consolidate their presence. ISIS has used this as an opportunity to increase attacks.
Asked about the frequent rocket attacks, some by carried out Iranian-backed militias, Ekman said they are a risk and the Coalition depends on their Iraqi hosts to “help create the security conditions here that allow us to continue our mission.
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