dronedrake
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- Dec 25, 2013
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Rockets slammed into an Iraqi airbase north of Baghdad on Sunday where US troops have been based, wounding at least four Iraqi troops. No immediate information about American casualties was reported.
At least six rockets struck the Al Balad base, which hosts American trainers, advisers and a company that provides maintenance services for F-16 aircraft. Some projectiles fell on a restaurant inside the airbase, officials said.
The attack came just days after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq that house US forces, causing no casualties.
A majority of US airmen stationed at the Al Balad airbase, 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, had already left, AFP news agency quoted military sources as saying.
Some shells hit the runway of the airbase while another shell struck the gate, said Colonel Mohammed Khalil, a police officer in the northern province of Saladin.
"Three Iraqi soldiers, who were on guard at the airbase gate, were injured as a result of the shelling," he said.
The Associated Press quoted one unidentified defence official as saying: "There are American experts, trainers and advisers at the base."
So far there was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes amid hightened tensions between the United States and Iran over the last two weeks.
Source: Al Jazeera
At least six rockets struck the Al Balad base, which hosts American trainers, advisers and a company that provides maintenance services for F-16 aircraft. Some projectiles fell on a restaurant inside the airbase, officials said.
The attack came just days after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq that house US forces, causing no casualties.
A majority of US airmen stationed at the Al Balad airbase, 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, had already left, AFP news agency quoted military sources as saying.
Some shells hit the runway of the airbase while another shell struck the gate, said Colonel Mohammed Khalil, a police officer in the northern province of Saladin.
"Three Iraqi soldiers, who were on guard at the airbase gate, were injured as a result of the shelling," he said.
The Associated Press quoted one unidentified defence official as saying: "There are American experts, trainers and advisers at the base."
So far there was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes amid hightened tensions between the United States and Iran over the last two weeks.
Source: Al Jazeera
