Tony Diver
US Editor
01 October 2024 12:05am
A military base hosting US forces in Baghdad was hit by a rocket attack on Monday evening, according to reports.
At least two rockets were fired at the Victoria military base, which hosts American forces near Baghdad International Airport, according to the Reuters news agency, citing two Iraqi military officials.
It was reported that the base had activated its air defences, intercepting the rockets.
US officials have not yet confirmed the attack, which took place around midnight, local time (5pm ET).
Two security sources told the AFP news agency that the base was “targeted with three rockets”, including two that were “shot down by the base’s special defences”.
“The third fell near the headquarters of the Counter Terrorism Service Command,” one source said. A second source confirmed the report, the agency said, and noted that there were no casualties and that the rockets did not affect air traffic.
In a video posted on X, explosions and sirens could be heard at the base.
Rocket attack targets military base hosting US forces in Baghdad, military sources say – Reuters#Iraq #USA #PENTAGON #Israel #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/CFsbF44yNl
— Ahmed Rasheed (@Ahmed_Rasheed_R) September 30, 2024
The Victoria military base is a compound at Baghdad International Airport, used as the headquarters of US forces in Iraq from 2003 until 2011, when it was handed over to the Iraqi government. It still hosts US forces, and has previously been a target of Islamist forces in Iraq.
Following the attack, the next scheduled flight to leave Baghdad airport, a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, has been cancelled.
The munitions used in the attack were reportedly Katyusha rockets, a weapon first fielded by the Soviet Union that has recently been used in the Middle East by Hezbollah and other Iranian-linked groups in Iraq.
Several US military installations have been targeted by a loose alliance of Islamist groups backed by Tehran since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October.
In January, three US troops were killed at a base in northern Jordan, prompting a US retaliation.
The attack came amid heightened tension in the region ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of Lebanon, after months of conflict between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah.
The post Rockets fired at US military base in likely Iran-linked attack appeared first on The Telegraph.
