Rockets hit Iraqi base housing US troops as Iran tensions soar

Three Katyusha rockets have hit an Iraqi military installation where US trainers were present after the US said it would send more troops to the region to counter “Iranian threats”.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

18 June, 2019

An American trainer with Iraqi troops at Taji base in a photo from 2015 [Getty]

Three rockets hit an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad, where where American trainers and Iraqi troops are based, the Iraqi military said on Tuesday.

The attack on camp Taji, about 27 kilometres (17 miles) north of Baghdad - which took place late Monday - is the second on a military post housing American personnel in the past few days.

An attack on an air base, also housing US trainers, north of Baghdad on Saturday caused a small fire.

A brief statement from the Iraqi military said that Katushya rockets were used.

Two military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because an investigation is still underway said the rockets landed near an Iraqi air defence unit.

The attack comes amid rising tension in the Middle East between the US and Iran. An Iranian official called on the US to leave the Middle East, while Washington said it will send a thousand more troops to the region to counter "Iranian threats".