US contractor killed after rocket attacks on Iraq base
US Army Apache Longbow helicopters line the ramp at the airfield in Ein Al-Assad military base, Iraq, as seen on 7 January 2004 [SSGT Suzanne Jenkins, USAF] March 4, 2021 at 12:24 pm
A US civilian contractor died of a heart attack yesterday following a rocket attack on the Ain Al-Assad Air Base which hosts US forces in western Iraq, the Pentagon has revealed.
According to both Iraqi and US sources, at least ten rockets struck the base although there were no reported casualties among the US or coalition forces stationed there. The base, located in the Al-Baghdadi area of Anbar province came under fire around 7:20am local time, said Colonel Wayne Marotto, a spokesperson a coalition spokesperson.
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The operation on the Iraq-Syria border could prove more significant than critics allow, but only if the administration keeps showing that there are limits to what it will tolerate in pursuing a new nuclear deal.
On Thursday, U.S. warplanes struck targets in the Albu Kamal region of Syria, a zone on the country’s eastern border that is heavily used by Iranian-backed Shiite militias from Iraq to smuggle weapons, exert strategic control, and carry out attacks against various foes in Syria, including the Islamic State. The airstrike hit seven targets, destroying several facilities but causing minimal casualties. According to press reports, President Joe Biden chose a more modest or “middle” target from the suites presented to him by his intelligence community for retaliating against an Iran-backed Shiite militia attack on Feb. 15 in Erbil, in which a U.S. contractor was killed and nine others, including an American serviceman, were wounded.