Iraqi airbase hosting US troops is hit by multiple rockets
Civilian contractor dies as rockets slam into US airbase in Iraq days after Joe Biden’s first airstrike ‘killed 22’ in attack on Iranian-backed militants
- Multiple rockets hit Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province on Wednesday
- Attack was launched from a site around five miles from the base, sources said
- It is the latest in a series of attacks on US forces in Iraq, and comes after Joe Biden launched his administration’s first strike on Iran-backed militants in Syria
- Attack also comes just two days before Pope Francis is due to visit the country
A civilian contractor died during a rocket strike against a US airbase in Iraq just days after President Joe Biden’s first airstrike against Iranian-backed militants reportedly killed 22 people.
At least 10 rockets hit the Ain al-Asad air base, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, at around 7.20am local time from a launcher located five miles from the base, Iraqi and Western military sources said.
It is not yet clear who carried out the strikes but it comes days after US President Joe Biden approved his first airstrike – an attack on two Iranian-backed Shia militia groups in Syria that left 22 dead.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been escalating in recent years, particularly during former president Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, exacerbated by the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani last year, on Trump’s orders.
The attack also comes ahead of Pope Francis’s visit to Iraq, which is due to begin on Friday and will mark the first time a pope has been to the country.
Despite the rocket attack, Pope Francis said on Wednesday that he would still make the trip ‘because the people cannot be let down’.
At least 10 rockets have hit a US airbase in Iraq in the latest in a series of attacks on American forces in the country. Pictures circulating on social media purportedly show the burnt out truck that was used to launch the attack
Iraqi and Western security sources said that the contractor died of a heart attack. No other casualties have been reported in the attack.
The attack on the sprawling base is the fourth time in less than three weeks that rockets hit a Western installation in the country.
Ain al-Asad hosts both Iraqi forces and troops from the US-led coalition helping fight remnants of the Islamic State group – as well as the unmanned drones they use to surveil jihadist sleeper cells.
Coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto confirmed that 10 rockets hit the base at 7:20 am (0420 GMT), but did not provide details on any casualties.
Iraqi security forces said they had found the platform from which 10 ‘Grad-type rockets’ hit the Ain al-Assad base.
Western security sources told AFP the rockets in today’s attack were Iranian-made Arash models, which are 122mm artillery rockets and heavier than those seen in similar strikes.
Western security sources told AFP that the rockets were Iranian-made Arash models, which are 122mm artillery rockets and heavier than those seen in other attacks on Western targets in Iraq. Pictures online purportedly show the vehicle that was used to launch the strikes
Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq – which hosts US, coalition and Iraqi forces – was hit by at least 10 rockets on Tuesday. One casualty has been reported so far
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been escalating in recent years, particularly during former president Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, exacerbated by the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani (pictured in 2016) last year, on Trump’s orders
The rocket strike is the latest attack on US forces in Iraq by Iran-backed militias, though nobody has claimed responsibility. Ain al-Asad has also been attacked by ISIS in the past
Dozens of rocket attacks and roadside bombs targeted Western security, military and diplomatic sites in Iraq in 2020, with Iraqi and Western military sources blaming hardline pro-Iran factions.
They came to a near-complete halt in October following a truce with the hardliners, but they have resumed at a quickening pace over the past three weeks.
In mid-February, rockets targeted US-led coalition troops in the Kurdish regional capital Arbil, a US military contracting company working north of the capital and the US embassy in Baghdad.
The US responded on February 26 with an air strike on Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary force stationed along the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Twenty-two people were killed when seven 500lbs bombs were dropped on a compound used by two Iranian-backed Shia militia groups in the first Biden-authorized airstrike on the Shia militia compound in Syria.
Military sources said the airstrike was intended to ‘draw a line’ after a series of attacks on US positions in Iraq.
On February 15, a volley of rockets fell within the grounds of Erbil’s international airport and in residential parts of the city, killing a contractor while wounding several US personnel and Iraqi civilians.
The last major attack on Ain al-Asad came last year when Iran hit the base with 10 missiles in revenge for the killing of General Qasem Soleimani. 109 soldiers suffered brain injuries
The Green Zone in Baghdad, where the American embassy is located, has been a regular target for mortar and rocket fire.
The compound in Syria had been used by militants to smuggle weapons across the border and into Iraq, the US said.
Ain al-Asad air base is the second largest airbase established during US occupation of Iraq between 2003 and 2011.
It came under attack by Iran last year following a drone strike ordered by President Trump which killed General Qasem Soleimani.
Iran fired 15 Fateh-313 missiles at two US bases in Iraq during that attack: Ain al-Asad and another facility in Erbil.
Ten of the rockets hit the US airbase and one landed at the Erbil facility, while four failed in flight, American military sources said at the time.
No US troops were killed in that attack but 109 were later diagnosed with brain injuries from the force of the explosions.
It is not yet clear who was behind Tuesday’s rocket attack. The base has also come under attack from ISIS militants in the past.
HOW US TENSIONS WITH IRAN HAVE ESCALATED
An American drone strike on Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020 killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force and one of the country’s most powerful men, and brought Washington and Tehran to the brink of all-out war.
While the strike marked a sudden and violent escalation of tensions between the two countries, trouble has been brewing since early 2018 – when former US president Donald Trump tore up the nuclear deal signed under Obama.
Here is the series of events that left the Middle East teetering on a knife-edge:
2018
May 9: Donald Trump announces that the US will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, calling it ‘defective at its core’, and says strict new sanctions will be imposed on Tehran
May 21: The US issues a list of 12 demands that it says Iran must comply with – including the complete abandonment of its nuclear energy program – or else face sanctions. The list is rejected by Tehran
Donald Trump signs an executive order reimposing sanctions on Iran and effectively tearing up the nuclear deal signed by Obama
August 7: America imposes the first round of sanctions, including cancelling a multi-billion dollar deal for Boeing aircraft and banning the sale of gold to Tehran
November 5: Second round of sanctions announced, this time against Iranian oil exports – Tehran’s primary source of income – and cutting off access to banking markets
2019
April 8: Donald Trump designates the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s domestic military force, a ‘terrorist group’, imposing travel bans and economic sanctions against its leaders
May 5: National Security Adviser John Bolton announces a Carrier Strike Group and Air Force bombers are being deployed to the region to combat ‘a number of troubling and escalatory indications’
May 8: On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Trump tearing up the deal, Iran says it will stop complying by increasing it stockpiles of Uranium and enriching to near weapons-grade levels
May 12: Four oil tankers belonging to Saudi Arabia, Norway and the UAE are hit by explosions near Fujairah in an attack that America blamed on Tehran
An oil tanker burns in the Strait of Hormuz – one of two belonging to Japan and Norway that were attacked on June 13
June 13: Two more tankers, this time belonging to Norway and Japan, are rocked by explosions which Washington again attributes to the Iranian regime
June 19: A US Navy drone is shot down by Iranian anti-aircraft missiles over the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Trump to order and then rapidly cancel airstrikes against Iranian targets
July 4: British Marines seize the Grace 1, an Iranian oil tanker which they said was bound for Syria, off the coast of Gibraltar as it sailed into the Mediterranean
July 10: British Heritage tanker is harassed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, but they are driven back by a Royal Navy warship
July 20: British-flagged tanker Stena Impero is seized by the IRGC and towed to Bandar Abbas, where it is kept under armed guard by gunboats
August 15: Britain agrees to release the Iranian tanker after seeking assurances that it will not head to Syria
September 14: Drones and cruise missiles are used to attack a Saudi oil field at Khurais and the country’s largest refinery at Abqaiq, knocking out a third of the world’s oil supply. The US and Saudis blame Iran, which denies responsibility
September 27: Iran releases the Stena Impero and its crew
Smoke is seen billowing from Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery at Abqaiq, after and attack that Riyadh blamed on Iran
October 11: Iranian oil tanker sailing off the coast of Jeddah is rocked by two explosions which Iran says were caused by guided missiles fired by Saudi Arabia
December 27: An American military contractor is killed in a rocket attack near the city of Kirkuk, Iraq, in an attack which Washington blames on Iran
December 29: America launches retaliatory strikes against Kataeb Hezbollah, part of pro-Iran People Mobilization Forces in Iraq, killing 25 people
December 31: American embassy in Baghdad is attacked by PMF forces led by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who is pictured among camouflage-clad protesters outside
2020
January 3: Qassem Soleimani arrives in Baghdad airport on a jet from either Lebanon or Syria, is hit by missiles fired from an American Reaper drone and killed. Muhandis is also killed, along with Mohammed Ridha Jabri, a senior PMF figure
The burning wreckage of a car believed to have been carrying General Soleimani at Baghdad airport after being hit by a US drone
Pictured: Officials stand near the wreckage after an Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 carrying 176 people crashed near Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran, killing everyone on board; in Shahriar, Iran, 08 January 2020
January 8: Iraq’s Al Asad Airbase, which hosts U.S.-led coalition troops, was attacked with ballistic missiles as a part of Iran’s ‘Operation Martyr Soleimani’, named for general Qasem Soleimani. It was also reported that the airbase in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan was attacked as well.
Hours after the attack, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed just after taking off from Tehran International Airport, killing all 176 passengers and crew, including 82 Iranian and 63 Canadian citizens.
March: More rocket strikes in Iraq. One strike kills two Americans – a soldier and a contractor – and a British soldier.
April: Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami says he has ordered Tehran’s naval forces to destroy any US warships that threaten the ‘security’ of Iranian vessels, after Trump said he had told the US Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea.
October: US threatened to close its embassy in Baghdad unless the attacks stopped.
December: Spray of rockets are launched at the US embassy. Trump vows that if one American is killed he will launch a massive bombing campaign.
2021
January 4: Iran seizes a South Korean-flagged tanker in the Gulf, the first such seizure in more than a year. Iran cited ‘environmental reasons’ and demanded money for its damage to the environment.
January 22: Iran’s supreme leader appeared to threaten Trump with revenge on Twitter, before the social media platform suspended the ad-hoc account.
February 15: Rocket fire targeted Erbil Airbase in Iraqi Kurdistan; one US-led coalition civilian contractor was killed and eight others, including a US soldier, were wounded in the attack.
February 26: U.S. President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes against Kata’ib Hezbollah facilities in the town of Abu Kamal, Syria in retaliation for a recent rocket strike in Erbil.
The attack left casualties among Kata’ib Hezbollah and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, with the dead ranging from 1 to 17 or as high as 22 militants, with varying reports.
