Multiple rockets hit Iraq's Balad airbase, 4 wounded: military

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Multiple rockets struck the Balad airbase, which houses American forces, north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Sunday.

Sources told Kurdistan 24 that at least four people were injured in the attack.

Two military sources confirmed the news to Reuters, noting that four Iraqi soldiers were wounded.

According to the military sources, the mortar bombs fell in the airbase’s runway.

Iraq’s Security Media Cell posted the news on its official Twitter account, stating that eight Katyusha rockets hit the airbase, “wounding four members of the Iraqi Air Force, including two officers.”

The military sources said a majority of US air personnel at the facility had already left amid ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran.

Balad air base is located 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad.

Airbases in Iraq that house American and coalition forces have been the target of rocket attacks in recent months.

On Jan. 9, two rockets landed in Iraq’s fortified Green Zone early but caused no casualties. The Iraqi Army said the Katyusha rockets landed near the US embassy in Baghdad.

Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missile strikes last week at airbases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian general Qasim Soleimani.

Read More: Iran strikes military bases in Iraq, Kurdistan housing US forces: Pentagon

According to an Iraqi military statement, 22 ballistic missiles were launched at the Ain al-Assad air base in the western Anbar province that houses American and coalition troops as well as a base in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil.

This is a developing story. Updates to follow.