SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Two rockets target Baghdad airport base housing US troops: security source
Baghdad, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2021
Two rockets targeted an airbase at Iraq's Baghdad airport housing US-led coalition troops on Sunday, in the second such attack in 10 days, a security source said.

One of the projectiles was intercepted by the C-RAM counter rocket, artillery and mortar system deployed to protect US troops in Iraq, the source told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility or report of casualties.

Washington routinely blames Iran-linked Iraqi factions for such attacks on its troops and diplomats.

Last week, three rockets crashed into the sector of the Baghdad airport base occupied by Iraqi troops, wounding one soldier.

The strikes come amid tensions between sworn foes Tehran and Washington, who have both had a presence since 2003 in Iraq, where 2,500 US troops are still deployed.

Pro-Iran groups have vowed to ramp up attacks to force out the "occupying" US forces.

Almost 30 rocket or bomb attacks have targeted American interests in Iraq -- including troops, the embassy or Iraqi supply convoys to foreign forces -- since President Joe Biden took office in January.

Dozens of other strikes were carried out from autumn 2019 under the administration of Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.

The operations are sometimes claimed by obscure groups that experts say are smokescreens for Iran-backed organisations long present in Iraq.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
China Focus: Chinese scientist details first planned Mars sample-return mission Tianwen 3
NASA says it will lose about 20 percent of its workforce
Building blocks of life found in distant star system suggest origins in interstellar space

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Trump administration expected to say greenhouse gases aren't harmful
MicroCarb satellite launches to map global carbon dioxide emissions from space
Rollable solar array by GalaxySpace redefines satellite compactness and power efficiency

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Airbus CO3D satellites begin mission to generate high precision global 3D map
BlackSky to supply satellite imagery and analytics for Latin American security operations
GovSat selects Thales Alenia Space to build secure satellite for military communications

24/7 News Coverage
First wildfire images reveal FireSat's unmatched detection capabilities
MetOp Second Generation satellite fully fuelled ahead of August launch
MicroCarb satellite launch marks new era in urban carbon tracking



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.