Rockets land near Iraqi base hosting US forces

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A rocket barrage late Friday struck the Iraqi Qayyarah airbase, which hosts American forces, with no injuries reported, security sources said.

The base, located south of the city of Mosul, has been targeted with Katyusha missiles repeatedly since last year, with Washington accusing Shia militia groups linked to Iran for being responsible.

Security sources told Kurdistan 24 that five Katyusha rockets landed at the Qayyarah base, prompting the American forces there to find the source of the launch.

No group has claimed responsibility for most of the rocket attacks directed at such facilities over the past year, as has been the case with strikes on bases that house coalition and American forces in Anbar, Salahuddin, Kirkuk, and Baghdad.

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The security media cell later reported that the missile shells landed near the Qayyarah base and said the attack resulted in no casualties or material damage.

Witnesses said the rockets landed around the base. Others stated that combat warplanes circled heavily over the area and continued to fly overnight.

The United States maintains a presence of about 5,000 personnel that it says provides support to and advises Iraqi forces in the ongoing fight against the so-called Islamic State and its remnants.

The attack comes amid tensions between Iran and the West almost two years after Washington withdrew from a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany