Accessibility links

Breaking News

Rockets Hit Coalition Base North Of Baghdad


The attack on Camp Taji in Iraq on March 14 came just days after a similar attack there killed three military personnel. (file photo)
The attack on Camp Taji in Iraq on March 14 came just days after a similar attack there killed three military personnel. (file photo)

A number of rockets have hit a military base housing U.S. and other coalition troops north of Baghdad, Western media reported.

The attack on Camp Taji on March 14 came just days after a similar attack there killed three military personnel, including one British and two American soldiers.

Iraqi security officials quoted by the AP news agency said a dozen rockets landed inside the base, with some striking the coalition quarters while others fell on a runway used by Iraqi forces.

It was not immediately clear if there had been any casualties in the attack on March 14.

The earlier March 11 attack on Camp Taji was the deadliest to target U.S. troops in Iraq since a late December rocket attack on an Iraqi base. That attack killed a U.S. contractor and triggered a series of tit-for-tat attacks.

In retaliation, the United States launched a series of air strikes early on March 13 on militia bases across Iraq's south, killing five Iraqi security personnel and a civilian.

The U.S. military said it had targeted sites used by the Iran-backed Kataib Hizbullah militia.

Iraqi President Barham Salih on March 13 condemned the U.S. attack, warning that the country could slip into “chaos” and become a “failed state.”

The Iraqi military said the “aggression” against its armed forces occurred in the areas of Jurf al-Sakher, Al-Musayib, Najaf, and Al-Iskandariya on the headquarters of the Iraqi Army.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that U.S. President Donald Trump should “reconsider the presence and behavior of his troops in the area" instead of making “dangerous actions and baseless accusations.”

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the response to the attack on coalition forces as "swift, decisive and proportionate," and warned that anyone seeking to harm those forces could expect a “strong response.”

With reporting by AP and AFP

XS
SM
MD
LG