Baghdad US and Iraqi military officials said on Wednesday that at least 10 rockets were fired at a military base in western Iraq, which is home to about 2,000 US troops on Wednesday. A U.S. defense official told National Security Correspondent David Martin to CBS News that no casualties were reported among U.S. or coalition troops, but a civilian contractor died of a heart attack during the rocket attack. The contractor’s nationality was not immediately clear.
According to Col. Wayne Marotto, a spokesman for the US military coalition, struck the rockets at 07:20 am Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province.
The Iraqi army later issued a statement saying the attack did not cause significant losses and that security forces had found the starting point for the missiles. An Iraqi official said it was found in the Al-Baghdadi area of Anbar, on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to cover the media.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but a similar, larger-scale missile attack on the same basis a year ago by militants backed by Iran brought the US to the brink of war with Iran.
Twitter / Mustafa al-Dulaimi
The rocket salvo on Wednesday was the first attack since the US hits military targets with Iran alignment last week along the border between Iraq and Syria, killed one militant and expressed fears of a possible repeat of a series of tit-for-tat attacks that escalated last year, culminating in the US-targeted drone attack that Iranian General Qassim Soleimani killed outside Baghdad airport.
Wednesday’s attack was on the same footing as Iran struck with a barrage of missiles in January last year in retaliation for the assassination of Soleimani. Dozens of American servicemen were injured and suffered concussions during this strike. As David Martin reported for ’60 minutes’. the strike was the largest ballistic missile attack ever against Americans.
His report for ’60 minutes’ looked at the drone video of the attack for the first time and he spoke to a number of US troops who were there the night that brought the US and Iran closer than ever to total war.
Denmark, which also has troops at the base, condemned the attack, saying that coalition forces at Ain al-Asad were there at the invitation of the Iraqi government, which was helping to bring stability and security to the country.
“Contemptuous attacks on the Ain al-Asad base in #Iraq are completely unacceptable,” tweeted Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod. The Danish army said two Danes, who were in the camp during the attack, were unharmed.
Wednesday’s attack comes two days before Pope Francis would visit Iraq during a much-anticipated trip that would include Baghdad, southern Iraq and the northern city of Erbil.
Last week’s U.S. strike along the border was in response to a spate of rocket attacks targeting the U.S. presence, including one that killed a Philippine coalition contractor outside Irbil airport.
After the attack, the Pentagon said the strike was a “proportionate military response” taken after consulting coalition partners.
Marotto said Iraqi security forces were investigating the attack on Ain al-Asad.
U.S. troops in Iraq significantly reduced their presence in the country last year under the Trump administration. The forces withdrew from several Iraqis across the country to consolidate mainly in Ain al-Asad and Baghad.
Frequent rocket attacks by the Iranian-backed militias operate in Iraq, aimed at the strongly strengthened Green Zone that houses the US Embassy, during President Donald Trump’s tenure, the administration frustrated, leading to threats of the closure of the embassy and the actions of the actions.