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IRAQ-ATTACK-ROCKETS-US NEWSERIES
One dead in rocket attack on Iraq base hosting US troops
BAGHDAD, March 3, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – At least 10 rockets slammed into a
military base in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition troops on Wednesday,
security sources said, leaving one civilian contractor dead.
The attack on the sprawling Ain al-Assad base in Iraq’s western desert
comes after several weeks of escalating US-Iran tensions on Iraqi soil — and
just two days before Pope Francis’s historic visit.
Ain al-Assad hosts both Iraqi forces and US-led coalition troops helping
fight the Islamic State group, as well as the unmanned drones the coalition
uses to surveil jihadist sleeper cells.
Coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto confirmed that 10 rockets hit
the base at 7:20 am (0420 GMT) while Iraqi security forces said they had
found the platform from which 10 “Grad-type rockets” hit the Ain al-Assad
base.
Western security sources told AFP the rockets were Iranian-made Arash
models, which are 122mm artillery rockets and heavier than those seen in
similar attacks.
“One civilian contractor died of a heart attack during the attack,” a
high-level security source told AFP, adding that he could not confirm the
contractor’s nationality.
The death marks the third fatality in rocket attacks in recent weeks,
after rockets targeting US-led troops in the Kurdish regional capital of
Arbil left two people dead.
Days later, more rockets hit a US military contracting company working
north of the capital and the US embassy in Baghdad, but only injuries were
reported.
– Boiling tensions –
In response, the US carried out an air strike on February 26 against
Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary force stationed along
the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Washington says it struck on the Syrian side of the border but Kataeb
claims one of its fighters who was killed in the bombardment was protecting
“Iraqi territory”.
Analysts have pointed to both domestic and international reasons for the
sudden rise in tensions.
Hardline Iraqi groups have an interest in ramping up the pressure on Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi following his pledges to rein in rogue militias.
They may also carry a message from Tehran to Washington, which under US
President Joe Biden is offering to revive the Iran nuclear deal abandoned by
his predecessor Donald Trump in 2018.
Iran is demanding the US lift sanctions immediately, while the US wants
Iran to move first by returning to previous nuclear commitments.
Tensions between the two rivals peaked in January 2020, following a US
drone strike on Baghdad airport that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani
and top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
In response, Iran launched ballistic missiles on Ain al-Assad and Arbil,
wounding dozens.
– Determined Pope –
Over the next 10 months, dozens of rockets and roadside bombs targeted
Western security, military and diplomatic sites across Iraq — some of them
deadly.
Iraqi and Western officials have blamed hardline pro-Iran factions, some
of which have established “front groups” to avoid being directly accused of
violence.
Last year’s attacks came to a near-complete halt in October following a
truce with the hardliners, but they have resumed at a quickening pace over
the past three weeks.
Despite the recent escalation, Pope Francis appears determined to go ahead
on Friday with the first-ever papal visit to Iraq.
While he is not set to be in the country’s west, he will spend time in
Baghdad and Arbil, both hit by rocket attacks last month.
Iraq is simultaneously gripped by a second wave of the coronavirus, which
is seeing more than 4,500 new cases a day in the country of 40 million.
To stem the spread and control the crowds during the Pope’s visit, Iraq is
set to extend its weekend lockdowns to include the entirety of the papal
visit from March 5-8.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1526 hrs