By: SEAN HANRAHAN
On Sunday, April 4th, two rockets landed just outside an Iraqi military base hosting American contractors. The Iraqi military said that the rockets landed on the outside fence of the base. There were no reported casualties and no group has claimed responsibility.
Investigations from Iraqi security officials show that the attack aimed to strike the Balad Airbase, which is about 50 miles north of Baghdad. However, the rockets fell short and missed to the southeast, hitting the rural village of al-Bu Asi.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Iraqi officials, Iran-backed militias such as Kata’ib Hezbollah have claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past. U.S. officials often blame Iran-backed armed groups for rocket attacks on American facilities and bases containing American personnel in Iraq, which have faced multiple attacks in the past several months.
Such military groups demand that all foreign forces stop what they call an occupation of Iraq. A NATO-led mission that trains Iraqi security forces and a U.S-led coalition, whose stated purpose is to fight ISIS forces in the region, remain in Iraq. The U.S. still has about 2,500 troops in the country.
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