BAGHDAD – At least 10 rockets hit a military base in western Iraq hostingUS-led coalition troops on Wednesday, security sources said, two daysbefore Pope Francis’s historic visit to the country.
The Ain al-Assad base hosts Iraqi forces as well as troops from the US-ledcoalition helping Iraq fight remnants of the Islamic State group.
Coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto confirmed that 10 rockets hit thebase at 7:20 am (0420 GMT), but did not provide details on any casualties.
Iraqi security forces said 10 “Grad-type rockets” hit the sprawling Ainal-Assad base on Wednesday morning, but said there were “no notablecasualties”.
Western security sources told AFP that the rockets were Iranian-made Arashmodels, which are 122mm artillery rockets and heavier than those seen inother attacks on Western targets in Iraq.
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Dozens of rocket attacks and roadside bombs targeted Western security,military and diplomatic sites in Iraq in 2020, with Iraqi and Westernmilitary sources blaming hardline pro-Iran factions.
They came to a near-complete halt in October following a truce with thehardliners, but they have resumed at a quickening pace over the past threeweeks.
In mid-February, rockets targeted US-led coalition troops in the Kurdishregional capital Arbil, a US military contracting company working north ofthe capital and the US embassy in Baghdad. -APP/AFP
