Iraq condemns attacks on Erbil airport, Ain al-Asad base
These attacks constitute "a flagrant violation" of Iraq's laws and "an assault on the State's status and its international obligations," said the top military spokesman
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The attacks on Erbil International Airport and the Ain al-Assad airbase are a "flagrant violation" of Iraq's sovereignty, said Yehia Rasool, Iraq's top military spokesman.
On Wednesday, at least 14 rockets landed in or around the Ain al-Assad military base, located in western Iraq, resulting in two minor injuries, according to the spokesperson for the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The facility hosts US troops.
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.
The two bases —Erbil and Ain al-Asad—host the vast majority of US forces in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
The Iraqi government "condemns this heinous attack" and affirms it will prosecute violators of the law, said Rasool, who speaks on behalf of Iraq Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
The military official stressed that these attacks constitute "a flagrant violation" of Iraq's laws and "an assault on the State's status and its international obligations."
Rasool pointed out that Baghdad rejects "using Iraqi lands" to launch retaliatory attacks.
It should be noted that despite the Iraqi government's repeated condemnations and promises of accountability, such attacks, carried out by suspected Iran-backed militias, continue to take place.
Groups within the Hashd al-Shaabi, known in English as Popular Mobilization Forces, hostile to the US presence in Iraq have lately been using more sophisticated weaponry than in previous years, including armed drones.