US CONTRACTOR DIES AS 10 ROCKETS HIT IRAQI BASE FOR INTERNATIONAL FORCES
▶ Worker suffers fatal heart attack as Al Asad comes under fire again
An American contractor died after a rocket attack yesterday on a military base that houses international forces in western Iraq, the Pentagon said.
The civilian had a cardiac arrest “while sheltering” from the attack on Al Asad airbase. He was treated at the scene, but later died, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.
Similar attacks in the past have been carried out by Iraqi militias aligned to Iran, but the US has yet to assign blame for yesterday’s incident.
“Iraqi security forces are on the scene and investigating,” Mr Kirby said.
“We cannot attribute responsibility at this time, and we do not have a complete picture of the extent of the damage.
“We stand by as needed to assist our Iraqi partners as they investigate.”
Col Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the coalition fighting ISIS, said 10 rockets hit Al Asad base at about 7.20am.
The rockets were launched eight kilometres from the base in Anbar province, a Baghdad Operations Command official said.
The Iraqi military said the attack did not cause significant losses and that its forces had found the launch site.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi condemned the attack.
“They are carried out by groups that have no true affiliation to Iraq, harming the progress the country has achieved,” Mr Al Kadhimi said.
He said 60 per cent of coalition forces had left Iraq as a result of dialogue, not violence.
Images posted on social media showed the Iraqi security forces at the scene of a burnt-out truck with what appeared to be improvised rocket launchers attached to the vehicle’s roof.
The coalition’s Joint Operations Command said Grad rockets were used. These are larger than those used in the February 15 attack on a US base near Erbil International Airport, in northern Iraq, which killed a contractor.
The use of larger rockets suggests the group responsible intended to kill, unlike some attacks in the past, which have been more politically symbolic.
The leader of a Sunni tribal force in Baghdadi, a village not far from the base, said the rockets were fired from Al Bayadir agricultural area.
Sabreen news website, which is thought to be linked to Iranbacked paramilitary group Asaib Ahl Al Haq, claimed that injured US personnel had been take from the blast. The website said Arash 4 rockets – a version of the Grad made in Iran – were fired in the attack.
The second rocket attack in Iraq in just over a fortnight happened only two days before Pope Francis is due to visit the country.
Last week – in retaliation for the February 15 Erbil attack – the US struck Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border.
There are fears of a repeat of last year’s retaliatory attacks, which included the US air strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Suleimani outside Baghdad airport.
The sprawling Al Asad base has been a target for Iran-backed groups on a number of occasions.
Iran hit the base with a missile attack last year, in retaliation for the assassination of Suleimani.
This week, US Central Command released footage of that attack, in which 11 ballistic missiles launched from Iran hit the base.
Dozens of soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries but no US personnel were killed in an attack that caused heavy damage to the base.
Rocket attacks are a favoured method of attack by Iraqi militias linked to Iran.
Most of these groups operate under the banner of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a statelinked force formed in 2014 to fight ISIS.
British ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey condemned the attack. A small number of British soldiers are stationed at Al Asad base, training members of the Iraqi security forces.
“Coalition forces are in Iraq to fight Daesh at the invitation of the Iraqi government,” he said.
“These terrorist attacks undermine the fight against Daesh and destabilise Iraq.”
There was no immediate response from the US government, beyond statements from its military.
But the latest incident places more pressure on President Joe Biden’s administration to get tough with Iran-backed groups.
Images on social media showed a burnt-out truck with what appeared to be improvised rocket launchers on its roof