The rocket attack on an air base in Iraq where American troops are stationed is a “troubling development” following the recent U.S. airstrike meant to deter attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON— The rocket attack on an air base in Iraq where American troops are stationed is a “troubling development” following the recent U.S. airstrike meant to deter attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman said Wednesday. “Nobody wants to see the situation escalate,” John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. “That is why when we conducted the strike last weekend in Syria, we said we believed it was measured and proportionate.” Al Asad Air Base in Iraq was hit Wednesday morning by 10 rockets fired from multiple locations east of the base, according to Kirby. No injuries of U.S. service members have been reported, but an American civilian contractor suffered a “cardiac episode” while taking shelter and later died. The rocket attack comes after the U.S. airstrike last Thursday on a compound in Syria manned by Iranian-back militia groups that included Kait’ib Hezbollah and Kait’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, which U.
