A Pentagon spokesperson announced that several Americans were injured in a rocket attack targeting the Ain Al-Assad military base in Iraq.
“It is believed to be a rocket attack that occurred today against US and coalition forces at Ain Al-Assad base in Iraq. Initial indicators suggest that a number of Americans have been injured,” the spokesperson stated.
The rockets were launched at the Ain Al-Assad base in Anbar province, which houses U.S. forces, just days after the killing of four Iraqi fighters aligned with Iran in a US airstrike, amid concerns of regional escalation, according to Iraqi sources.
A military source noted that some rockets “fell inside the base,” while one missile landed in a nearby village without causing damage.
An official from an Iran-backed faction told Agence France-Presse that “at least two rockets targeted the base,” without specifying who carried out the attack.
These attacks have been a recurring event since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, though they have significantly decreased in frequency afterwards.
Monday’s attack comes amid heightened fears of a possible retaliation by Iran and its allies against Israel following the assassination of Hamas’ political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah leader in South Beirut last week.
