Rockets fired at base housing NZ troops in Iraq; no injuries
WELLINGTON: Rockets have been fired at the United States army base in Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, which houses New Zealand’s remaining troops in Iraq.
An Iraqi military statement said the camp had been targeted by Katyusha rockets.
Sky News reported a missile landed near the camp’s gates, wounding a member of the security forces.
The United States led military coalition fighting Islamic State said that no troops were affected in the attack.
‘‘No Coalition troops were affected by this small attack at Taji
Base,’’ coalition military spokesman Colonel Myles Caggins III said in a tweet.
Taji is the base where the remaining 45 New Zealand Defence Force personnel are stationed in Iraq.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said all New Zealand soldiers at the camp are safe and accounted for.
A spokesman said the rocket attacks where New Zealand soldiers are training Iraqi security forces are a regular occurrence.
The rockets landed about 3km outside of Taji Military Complex and no NZDF personnel were in the vicinity.
In a statement the NZDF said it ‘‘takes all precautions necessary in theatre to keep our people safe and continues to monitor the security situation’’.
The Jerusalem Post reported five rockets were fired at the army base, which also hosts US troops.
The BBC reported no rocket hit the base itself.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack comes after Iran launched missiles at two Iraqi military complexes last week.
The Iraqi military said on Sunday (local time) four people were wounded after eight Katyusha rockets were fired at Balad air base, which houses US personnel about 80km north of Baghdad.
Reuters reported military sources identified the wounded as Iraqi soldiers.
Camp Taji was not the target in those attacks and no New Zealanders were injured.
Tensions are high in the Middle East after the United States killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport. — RNZ
DUBAI: Iran said yesterday it had arrested people accused of a role in shooting down a Ukrainian airliner and had also detained 30 people involved in protests that have swept the nation for four days since the military belatedly admitted its error.
Last week’s downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, which killed all 176 people aboard, has created a new crisis for the Islamic Republic’s clerical rulers.
President Hassan Rouhani promised a thorough investigation into the ‘‘unforgivable error’’ yesterday. It was the latest in a series of apologies by the leadership that has done little to quell public anger.
Britain, France and Germany also increased diplomatic pressure on Iran, launching a dispute mechanism to challenge Teheran for breaching limits on its nuclear programme under an agreement Washington abandoned in 2018.
Teheran has faced an escalating confrontation with the West and a wave of unrest since the United States killed Iran’s most powerful military commander, General Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike on January 3.
Iran shot down the plane last week when its military was on high alert, hours after firing missiles at US targets in Iraq. It eventually admitted the mistake after days of denials.
A person who posted a video online last week of a missile striking the plane had been taken into custody by the elite Revolutionary Guards, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. Iran’s government was already reeling from the reimposition of sanctions by the US, which quit an agreement with world powers under which Teheran would secure sanctions relief in return for scaling back its nuclear programme.
Since Washington withdrew, Teheran has stepped back from its nuclear commitments and said it would no longer recognise limits on enriching uranium.
Rouhani yesterday dismissed a proposal for a new ‘‘Trump deal’’ aimed at resolving the nuclear row, saying it was a ‘‘strange’’ offer and criticising US President Donald Trump for always breaking promises.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has praised Trump as a great dealmaker, called on Tuesday for the president to replace Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers with his own new pact to ensure Teheran does not get an atomic weapon.
In a televised speech, Rouhani told Washington to return to the nuclear pact.
‘‘This Mr Prime Minister in London, I don’t know how he thinks. He says let’s put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action,’’ Rouhani said.
‘‘If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal.’’
Rouhani said Iran could reverse steps that exceeded restrictions in the agreement as soon as sanctions are lifted.