Two US troops killed in pro-Iranian rocket attack near Baghdad – report
Al Arabiya reported Wednesday night that sites belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces were being shelled in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq.
By LEON SVERDLOV
Two US troops and a British national are believed to be killed in a rocket attack on Camp Taji. Iraq’s Taji military camp north of Baghdad was targeted by Katyusha rockets on Wednesday, an Iraqi military statement said.According to a-Sharq al-Awsat reporter Charles Lister, the attack was perpetrated by the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces. About a dozen coalition members were injured in the attack, US officials reported.Camp Taji, a base holding US troops, has been hit in the past by Katyusha rockets fired by Iranian-allied militias, including Kataeb Hezbollah – an Iraqi branch of the Lebanese Shiíte terrorist organization.
Al Arabiya reported Wednesday night that sites belonging to the PMF were being shelled in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq. The area, known as Deir ez-Zour, is controlled by pro-Iranian militias.The camp was also struck by Iranian ballistic missiles during a confrontation with US forces after the assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in January. After the confrontation, a Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down over Tehran after, according to the Iranians, it was perceived as a cruise missile fired by US forces.
The crash, killing all 176 passengers and crew, led to mass protests across the Islamic Republic demanding the authorities to provide an explanation of the incident. After the republic’s military admitted to shooting down the plane, protesters began demanding that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei resign.No organization has taken responsibility for the Wednesday attack so far. On Tuesday, ABC News reported that two US troops had been killed in Iraq during an anti-ISIS operation.
According to the report, the US-led coalition on Baghdad said the soldiers were “killed by enemy forces while advising and accompanying Iraqi Security Forces during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north central Iraq.”
Another four service members were wounded in the operation. The names of the casualties have not been revealed, as the US Defense Department has withheld their publication pending next of kin notification, ABC News reported.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Ten-Katyusha-rockets-hit-US-base-near-Baghdad-620591.