Samarra, Iraq:
Five rockets Wednesday evening targeted Iraq’s Balad airbase, with two of the projectiles falling close to an region applied by US contractors without the need of causing casualties, a safety official told AFP.
“There were no victims or damage,” the official stated.
Balad airbase, north of Baghdad, is applied by US corporation Sallyport to service F-16 fighter jets flown by Iraq’s air force and has repeatedly been targeted by rocket fire.
Another US corporation, Lockheed Martin, withdrew its employees from the base last month amid issues about the security of its personnel.
At least 3 foreign subcontractors and one Iraqi subcontractor have been wounded in attacks on Balad.
The US routinely blames such attacks — which also frequently target US interests at other installations, which includes Baghdad airport — on Iran-backed factions.
US troops are in Iraq as element of a military coalition that was established to fight the jihadist Islamic State group — a campaign that Iraq’s government declared won in late 2017.
The rocket attacks are seen as a indicates to stress Washington into removing all its remaining personnel, whom Iran-linked factions view as an occupying force.
In mid-April, pro-Iran fighters sent an explosives-packed drone crashing into Arbil airport in the very first reported use of such a weapon against a base housing US troops in Iraq.
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