Pentagon: US contractor killed in rocket attack on Iraq base

A US contractor was killed Wednesday (US time) when at least 10 rockets hit an air base that housed US and coalition soldiers in western Iraq, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the contractor “suffered a heart attack while taking refuge” and died shortly after. He said no service members were injured and all are accounted for.

The rocket attack was the first since the United States struck Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border last week, killing a militant and stoking fears of another cycle of tit-for-tat attacks as it happened last year. Those attacks culminated in the US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassim Soleimani in Baghdad.

No one claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, which occurred two days before Pope Francis’ scheduled visit to the country amid concerns about security and the coronavirus pandemic. The long-awaited trip will include stops in Baghdad, southern Iraq and the northern city of Irbil.

The rockets hit the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province early in the morning, said US-led coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto. Kirby said the rockets were fired from the east of the base.

Danish and British troops are also stationed at the base, which Iran struck with a barrage of missiles in January last year in retaliation for Soleimani’s assassination. Dozens of US service members suffered concussions in that attack.

The Iraqi military said Wednesday’s attack caused no significant losses and that security forces had found the launch pad used for the rockets: a truck. Video from the site shows a burning truck in a desert area.

British Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey condemned the attack and said it undermined the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group. “Coalition forces are in Iraq to fight Daesh at the invitation of the Iraqi government,” he tweeted, using the Arabic acronym for Isis. “These terrorist attacks undermine the fight against Daesh and destabilize Iraq.”

Denmark said coalition forces on the base were helping to bring stability and security to the country.

“The despicable attacks on Ain al-Asad’s base in #Irak are completely unacceptable,” Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod tweeted. The Danish armed forces said that two Danes who were on the base at the time of the attack are unharmed.

Last week’s US attack along the border was in response to a series of rocket attacks on the US presence, including one that killed a Philippine coalition contractor outside Irbil airport.

After that attack, the Pentagon said the attack was a “proportionate military response.”

Marotto, the coalition spokesman, said Iraqi security forces were leading an investigation into the attack.

Frequent rocket attacks on the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy, ​​during Donald Trump’s presidency frustrated the administration, prompting threats to close the embassy and intensified strikes. Those attacks have increased again in recent weeks, since President Joe Biden took office, following a hiatus during the transition period.

US troops in Iraq significantly decreased their presence in the country last year and withdrew from various Iraqi bases to consolidate mainly in Ain al-Assad, Baghdad and Irbil.

– AP