MULTIPLE rockets have struck an Iraqi airbase that hosts US and coalition forces, just days after President Biden ordered his first airstrike in Syria.
In the latest attack on American forces in the country, at least ten rockets landed at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base that also hosts Iraqi troops late Tuesday, two security sources confirmed.
No casualties have been reported so far, and it is not yet clear who was behind Tuesday's attack.
Ain al-Asad air base is located in western Anbar province and is the second largest airbase established during US occupation of Iraq between 2003 and 2011.
The attack came from a launcher located about five miles from the base, sources said.
The air base has also come under fire from ISIS militant in the past.
The rocket attack came just days after the Biden administration's first airstrike on an Iran-backed Shia militia compound in neighbouring Syria.
Seven 500lbs bombs were dropped on a compound used by two Iranian-backed Shia militia groups, killing an estimated 22 people.
The President said the airstrike he ordered, which reportedly killed 22 fighters, was a warning to Iran to “be careful" and not support militia groups that threaten Americans.
Tehran's top security official condemned Biden's attack on Iranian-back fighters has been slammed as "organized terrorism".
The attack is also just days ahead of Pope Francis's visit to Iraq on Friday, which is due to mark the first time a pope has been to the country.
The air base came under fire 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.
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 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.
More to follow…
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