Rockets launched at military base housing US forces in Iraq

At least two Katyusha rockets were launched at a military base housing US forces near Baghdad International Airport early Tuesday morning, according to two Iraqi military officials who spoke to the Reuters news agency.

The officials said air defenses successfully intercepted the rockets.

Two security sources indicated that an initial investigation revealed three rockets were fired, with one striking an area close to buildings used by Iraqi counter-terrorism forces. This caused damage and ignited fires in several vehicles, though no casualties were reported.

A US diplomatic facility in Baghdad was previously targeted in early September, though no injuries were reported in that incident either.

A spokesperson for the US embassy has not yet commented on the recent attack.

Armed groups aligned with Iran have increased their attacks on US forces in Iraq since the start of the war in Gaza last October.

In July, the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq, which hosts US troops, came under attack by two armed drones.

That attack was the first one against US forces in Iraq since early February, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq announced they would stop their attacks against US troops.

The July attack was followed by two additional attacks on the Ain al-Asad base, including one in early August which wounded seven US personnel.