Five rockets fired from Iraq towards US military base in Syria;
Coalition strikes back: report
Mosul, Iraq: At least five rockets were launched from the Iraqi city of Zummar towards a US military base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi security sources said Reuters.
The attack on US troops is the first since early February, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq halted their attacks on US troops.
The attack comes a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States and met with President Joe Biden at the White House.
The attack on US troops is the first since early February, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq halted their attacks on US troops.
The attack comes a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States and met with President Joe Biden at the White House.
- Two security sources and a senior army officer said a rocket launcher mounted on the back of a small truck was parked in the Syrian border town of Zummar.
- The military official said the truck caught fire in an explosion of unfired rockets while fighter jets were in the air at the same time.
- “We cannot confirm that the truck was bombed by US warplanes unless we investigate,” a military official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the incident.
Iraqi security forces were deployed to the area and launched a hunt for the perpetrators who fled the area in another vehicle, a security official stationed in the town of Zummar said.
The Iraqi Security Medica Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement that Iraqi forces had launched “an extensive search and inspection operation” against the perpetrators near the Syrian border, promising to bring them to justice to bring.
The Iraqi Security Medica Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement that Iraqi forces had launched “an extensive search and inspection operation” against the perpetrators near the Syrian border, promising to bring them to justice to bring.
- An army officer said the truck has been seized for further investigation and preliminary investigations indicate it was destroyed by an airstrike.
- “We are communicating with coalition forces in Iraq to share information about this attack,” the officer added.
The coalition strikes back
A coalition fighter destroyed a launch vehicle in self-defense after reports of a failed missile attack near a coalition base in Syria, a US official said on Sunday, adding that no US personnel were injured.
The attack on US troops is the first since early February, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq halted their attacks on US troops.
A coalition fighter destroyed a launch vehicle in self-defense after reports of a failed missile attack near a coalition base in Syria, a US official said on Sunday, adding that no US personnel were injured.
The attack on US troops is the first since early February, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq halted their attacks on US troops.
(Published April 22, 2024, 3:11 am IST)
Rockets fired at US base in Syria – Reuters
American troops have reportedly been targeted in the Middle East for the first time since February amid Israel-Iran tensions
At least five rockets were fired at an American base in northeastern Syria, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing two unnamed Iraqi security officials. The projectiles were reportedly launched from the town of Zummar in northwestern Iraq. Reuters did not specify if there were any casualties.
The Iraq-based group Kataib Hezbollah later released a statement saying that it had decided to resume attacks on US personnel. “What happened a short while ago is the beginning,” the group said, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
The Iraq-based group Kataib Hezbollah later released a statement saying that it had decided to resume attacks on US personnel. “What happened a short while ago is the beginning,” the group said, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
Iranian-backed militias had halted their attacks against US military installations in the region in February, after Washington launched retaliatory airstrikes on dozens of targets in Iraq and Syria.
- Militants launched rockets and drones against US forces in the Middle East more than 150 times between last October, when the Israel-Hamas war started, and February, capped by an attack that killed three Americans and wounded 40 others at an outpost in Jordan.
The incident came one day after a fatal blast at an Iraqi military command post north of Baghdad. The explosion reportedly killed one member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and injured eight other people.
- US and Israeli military officials both denied having any involvement in the blast. There were no drones or warplanes in the airspace around the command post at the time of the explosion, the Iraqi army said.
- The uptick in violence followed a week in which Iran and Israel traded largely ineffective aerial attacks on each other.
- Iran’s April 13 drone and missile launches against Israel were retaliation for the April 1 bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria.
- The consulate attack killed 16 people, including two Iranian generals and five other officers.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned home on Saturday from his trip to the US, where he met with President Joe Biden at the White House. He also made a stop in Michigan to meet with Arab American leaders.
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