14 rockets strike western Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase; injuries reported: Coalition

Soldiers from the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS clear debris from an attack at Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, Jan. 13, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Ayman Henna)
Soldiers from the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS clear debris from an attack at Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, Jan. 13, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Ayman Henna)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – At least 14 rockets landed in or around a western Iraqi military base that hosts US troops on Wednesday, resulting in two minor injuries, according to the spokesperson for the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

"The rockets landed on the base & perimeter. Force protection defensive measures were activated," wrote Col. Wayne Marotto in a tweet. 

Although he initially reported three casualties, a second posting less than an hour later read, "Update: 100 % accountability at Ain Al-Assad Air Base after rocket attack. Two personnel sustained minor injuries. Damage still be(ing) assessed. More details will be provided when (they) become available."

The rockets rained down onto the facility less than 24 hours after a previous attack the night before using explosives-laden drones at Erbil International Airport in the autonomous Kurdistan Region.

Read More: Erbil International Airport targeted in drone attack: Kurdistan CT forces

The incident resulted in no damage or casualties, per local and international security sources.

No one has claimed the responsibility for either attack, but multiple domestic and international observers have regularly accused Iranian-backed militias of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of being behind such attacks.

The two bases —Erbil and Ain al-Asad—host the vast majority of US forces in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Over the course of 2020, the Coalition has withdrawn its troops from additional smaller bases to concentrate them in the two facilities as the national mission of the Coalition shifts from one based on combat to the role of supporting the Iraqi military and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the conflict.

Editing by John J. Catherine