SAMARRA IRAQ – Five rockets targeted an Iraqi airbase hosting US soldiers Sunday wounding two foreign contractors and three
SAMARRA, IRAQ – Five rockets targeted an Iraqi airbase hosting U.S. soldiers Sunday, wounding two foreign contractors and three Iraqi soldiers, in the latest attack coinciding with tensions between Baghdad’s allies Tehran and Washington. Two of the rockets fired at Balad airbase, north of Baghdad, crashed into a dormitory and a canteen of U.S. company Sallyport, a security source told AFP. Two foreign contractors and three Iraqi soldiers were wounded, the source added. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the United States routinely blames Iran-linked Iraqi factions for such attacks on its troops and diplomats. F-16 fighters are stationed at the Balad airbase, and several maintenance companies are present there, employing Iraqi and foreign staff. There have been about 20 bomb or rocket attacks against American interests, including bases hosting U.S. soldiers, since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January. Dozens of others took place from the autumn of 2019 under the administration of Donald Trump.
