TEHRAN (Iran News) – An airbase in Iraq’s western province of Anbar housing American troops has come under attack, damaging a hangar for military aircraft.
“This morning at 02:20 [local time] (2320 GMT Friday) Ain al-Asad Air Base was attacked by an unmanned aerial surveillance system. No injuries reported. A hangar was damaged. The attack is under investigation,” Colonel Wayne Marotto, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page on Saturday.
The Security Media Cell, affiliated with the Iraqi prime minister’s office, also confirmed the attack in a statement.
It said an explosives-laden drone had crashed inside the air base, located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of the capital Baghdad, without causing any damage.
This is while Sabereen News, a Telegram news channel associated with Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units – better known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi – reported that several rockets had hit Ain al-Asad Air base on Saturday morning.
The report added that C-RAM systems as well as Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missile systems deployed at the base failed to intercept the rockets.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, which is the latest in a series of assaults that have targeted US occupation forces over the past few months.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi army announced in a statement that two rockets had landed inside Ain al-Asad military base, but the attack had caused no casualties. No further information was provided.
The Iraqi al-Ahad television channel said rocket sirens went off at the sprawling installation.
The development came only a day after at least six rockets struck the al-Balad Airbase, which houses US forces as well as warplanes and lies 64 kilometers (40 miles) north of Baghdad.
Last week, an airbase similarly housing the United States-led coalition’s forces at Baghdad International Airport came under rocket fire.
