Rockets hit Iraqi air base, 5 injured

Five rockets targeted on Sunday an Iraqi airbase hosting US soldiers and at least two projectiles hit an American maintenance firm wounding two foreigners and three Iraqi soldiers, a security source said.

The rockets targeted Balad airbase north of Baghdad, and two crashed into a dormitory and a canteen of US company Sallyport, the source said.

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 Iranlinked Iraqi factions for such attacks on its troops and diplomats.

F-16 aircraft are stationed at the Balad airbase, and several maintenance companies are present there, employing Iraqi and foreign staff.

There have been around 20 bomb or rocket attacks against American interests, including bases hosting US soldiers, since US President Joe Biden took office in January.

Dozens of others took place from the autumn of 2019 under the administration of Donald Trump.

Two Americans and an Iraqi civilian have been killed in such attacks since late 2019.

An Iraqi civilian working for a firm maintaining US fighter jets for the Iraq airforce was also wounded in one attack.

The Balad base was also targeted earlier this month, without causing any casualties.

The attacks are sometimes claimed by shadowy Shia armed groups aligned with Iran who are demanding the Biden administration set a pullout date for Iraq as it has for Afghanistan.