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Ten rockets were fired at an Iraqi military base housing US-led coalition troops on Wednesday, the latest in a series of rocket attacks in Iraq with it just days before the visit of the pope in the country.
The rockets targeted Ain Al-Asad air base, northwest of Baghdad, at 7:20 a.m. local time Wednesday (11:20 p.m. Tuesday ET). The attack has been confirmed in a tweet from Colonel Wayne Marotto, military spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, the 83-member coalition to defeat ISIS.
Iraqi security forces are leading the response and investigation, he added.
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Iraqi Security Forces Major General Tahseen al-Khafaji told NBC News that the attack took place at 7:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. ET) and that no casualties or damage had been suffered. reported to the base. Security forces were investigating the perpetrators of the attack, he added.
Wednesday’s rocket attack follows a U.S. airstrike last week in eastern Syria that killed a fighter in an Iran-backed militia and injured two others, according to the Pentagon.
This operation was the first known use of military force by the Biden administration and was carried out in retaliation for a deadly rocket attack on a US-led coalition base in Irbil in northern Kurdish l Iraq last month, as well as two other attacks.
The rocket attack in Irbil on February 15 was the deadliest attack to hit US-led forces in the country for nearly a year, and echoed another attack in December 2019 which sparked a dangerous escalation between Iran and the United States.
The latest attack could fuel fears of a repeat of last year’s tit-for-tat escalation, which culminated in the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq last January.
Iran retaliated less than a week later by firing missiles at US troops in Iraq, injuring dozens of US servicemen who suffered traumatic brain injuries. The Ain al-Asad air base was one of two bases targeted by Iran.
NBC News previously reported that Iranian-backed militias were most likely behind the Irbil rocket attack in February, and that weapons and tactics resembled previous attacks by Iran-linked militias. However, it was not clear whether Iran had encouraged or ordered the rocket attack.
Following the attack on Irbil Base last month, Iraqi Balad Air Base was the target of rocket fire days later, where a US defense company maintains the country’s fighter jets, then two rockets landed near the US Embassy complex in Baghdad.
The latest rocket attack comes two days before Pope Francis travels to Iraq on what would be the first-ever papal visit to the Middle Eastern country.
Francis intended to visit Iraq in 2014, as did Saint John Paul II in 2000, but both had to cancel their trips for security reasons, according to the Associated Press.
During his trip, from Friday to Monday, Pope Francis is due to visit Baghdad, the Shia holy city of Najaf and the northern city of Irbil, among other destinations.
He is due to meet Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of millions of Shia Muslims, in what is believed to be the very first meeting between a Pope and a Grand Iraqi Ayatollah.
Speaking Wednesday at the end of his general audience, Francis asked for prayers that his visit to Iraq will continue “in the best possible way.”
“The Iraqis are waiting for us, they waited for Saint Pope John Paul II, his visit was not authorized,” he said, according to a Reuters translation. “People cannot be disappointed a second time.”
He made no mention of the deteriorating security situation in the country, according to the newswire.
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