Iraq army says 10 Katyusha rockets hit Taji air base housing US forces near Baghdad
Ten Katyusha rockets hit the Taji air base north of Baghdad on Wednesday, March 11, Iraq’s army said, with U.S. and British soldiers reported killed in the attack.
The rockets hit the Iraqi base located 27 km (17 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, which also houses U.S. troops, the Iraqi Security Media Cell said.
خلية الإعلام الأمني@SecMedCell
سقوط عشرة صواريخ كاتيوشا داخل معسكر التاجي بدون خسائر , تم العثور على عجلة نوع كيا بنكو تحمل منصة صواريخ فيها ثلاث صواريخ متبقية جنوب منطقة الراشدية.
A Kia Bongo flatbed truck with a missile platform was found in the nearby Al-Rashidiyya area with three rockets on board, the army said.
It was unclear if there were any injuries and the extent of the damage to the airfield, but the Associated Press and Fox News reported that three people were killed, including two U.S. personnel. Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin said a British citizen was also killed.
Retaliatory airstrikes were reported on Katib Hezbollah and Imam Ali militia sites along the Iraq-Syria border near Al Bukamal.
Colonel Myles Caggins III, spokesperson for the U.S.-led Coalition against ISIS, tweeted: “The Coalition … confirms more than 15 small rockets impacted Iraq’s Camp Taji base hosting Coalition troops, March 11 at 7:35 p.m. (Iraq Time). Assessment and investigation ongoing.”
The U.K. Ministry of Defence said: “We can confirm we are aware of an incident involving U.K. service personnel at Camp Taji, Iraq. An investigation is underway, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
On Tuesday, General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, said that the U.S. was moving air defense systems into Iraq after discussions with the caretaker government. The U.S. has blamed Katib Hezbollah, a Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) militia, for repeated attacks targeting its bases in Iraq and the American embassy in Baghdad.
Iraqi bases housing Coalition forces came under rocket fire late on January 4, the 13th such attack in two months, prompting the U.S. military to halt training of the Iraqi Security Forces and joint operations against ISIS.
In response to a December attack on the K1 base near Kirkuk that killed an American contractor and wounded Iraqi Security Forces and U.S. military personnel, President Donald Trump authorized airstrikes that killed Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Qassam Soleimani and de facto PMU leader Abul Mahdi al-Muhandis.
That operation, and previous U.S. strikes on Kataib Hezbollah positions in Iraq and Syria, prompted the Iraqi government to close its airspace to American military flights and call for foreign forces to leave the country, but the U.S.-led Coalition against ISIS resumed operations with the Iraqi Security Forces in late January.
