American, British soldiers killed in fresh rocket attack on Iraqi base

On Wednesday evening, a barrage of rockets landed inside an Iraqi base outside Baghdad where troops from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State are stationed, killing three service members and wounding at least ten others.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Wednesday evening, a barrage of rockets landed inside an Iraqi base outside Baghdad where troops from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State are stationed, killing three service members and wounding at least ten others.

The strike took place at around 8 p.m. local time, when a number of missiles landed at the Taji military base, according to a statement from the Iraqi military communications center known as the Security Media Cell.

It added that Iraqi security forces dispatched soon afterward to surrounding areas discovered a pickup truck in Baghdad's northern al-Rashdiya area, carrying a launcher suspected of being used in the attack with three unfired missiles still inside.

The government statement did not specify the number of casualties, but reports later indicated deaths and injuries among coalition fighters. 

Reuters cited two US officials as saying that two Americans and one British personnel are believed to be among those killed in the strikes and that there had been about a dozen others of unspecified nationalities wounded in the attack.

A coalition statement released later in the early hours of Thursday read, "Three Coalition personnel were killed during a rocket attack on Camp Taji," adding, "Approximately 12 additional personnel were wounded during the attack."

It noted further, "Approximately 18 107mm Katyusha rockets struck the base. The Iraqi Security Forces found a rocket-rigged truck, a few miles from Camp Taji."

Washington has previously blamed Iran and Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups—such as the Kata'ib Hizbollah (KH)—for similar incidents at Iraqi bases hosting American forces, as well as attacks appearing to target the US embassy compound in Baghdad.

Shortly after the attack on Taji, airstrikes reportedly targeted bases operated by Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), on both sides of the Syria–Iraq border.

This marks the latest escalation after a period of relative calm following tit-for-tat attacks in late 2019 and early 2020, culminating in Iranian missile strikes on bases hosting American troops. There were several other attacks on the US embassy after this.

Related Article: Rockets land near US embassy, base housing coalition troops in Baghdad

Tensions with Iran and Iranian-backed entities in Iraq have led to affiliated Iraqi politicians making fresh calls for the expulsion of US troops from Iraq. PMF militias have organized marches in which they chanted slogans demanding the ouster of American forces, often threatening further attacks against them if they remained. 

Editing by John J. Catherine