A fresh spate of rockets targeted an Iraqi base north of Baghdad on Saturday where US-led coalition forces are deployed.
Several rockets were fired at the Taji air base on Saturday, Iraqi and US military officials said.
“The initial toll is two wounded Iraqi Air Defence personnel who are in very critical condition,” said Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command.
A military source said Iraqi security forces had found the launching pad for the rockets, but not the attackers themselves.
The US-led coalition’s surveillance capabilities have been impaired by cloudy weather in recent days, which the US official said may have contributed to the attackers’ readiness to launch the rockets during the day instead of under the cover of night.
It came three days after a similar attack on the base killed two American military personnel and a British soldier — the deadliest such incident at an Iraqi base in years.
The US on Friday struck several posts across Iraq, claiming they were for Hashd Shaabi’s Kataib Hezbollah. However the strikes killed 5 Iraqi servicemen and a civilian, Iraqi Army said in a statement. President Barham Saleh denounced the attack, with Iraqi foreign ministry summoned both US and UK ambassadors in the country.
Source: Agencies
