Illustrative image.
Late on March 17, a rocket attack targeted Balad Air Base which is located in the northern Iraqi province of Saladin, some 80 kilometers to the north of the capital, Baghdad.
Commander of Balad Air Base, Maj. Gen. Diaa Mohsen Saad, told the official Iraqi News Agency that four rockets hit the base. The rockets were reportedly launched from Khalis district in the eastern province of Diyala.
“Four rockets fell in open areas … leaving no damage,” the commander said.
The Sabereen News channel on Telegram claimed that the attack targeted military technicians from the US defense giant Lockheed Martin. American technicians are known to frequent the base to work on F-16 fighter jets of the Iraqi Air Force.
The rocket attack was likely carried out by pro-Iranian forces who have been attacking US forces in Iraq for more than two years now as response to the assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy-Commander of the Popular Mobilization Units, and Iran’s Quds Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani.
Four days earlier, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a dozen ballistic missiles at an alleged Israeli intelligence center in Erbil city, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
Iran and its supporters in Iraq appear to be committed to maintain heavy military pressure on US forces in the country. Despite this, Washington will not likely pull American troops out from Iraq anytime soon.
nice
I’m convinced the Iranians hit the American consulate to prove the US can’t do anything about it. Mesopotamia is played out – time to leave Americans.