BAGHDAD: The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group came under fire in Iraq and Syria but reported no casualties, in the latest of several attacks that Washington blamed on “Iran-backed groups”.
The surge of attacks targeting bases used by the coalition comes as Tehran and its Middle East allies held emotional commemorations marking the second anniversary Monday of the assassination of Iranian commander General Qasem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport.
The US said at the time that Soleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq, a country long torn between the competing demands of its principal allies Washington and Tehran.
“Our coalition continues to see threats against our forces in Iraq and Syria by militia groups that are backed by Iran,” coalition chief Maj. Gen. John W. Brennan, Jr. said in a statement.
On Wednesday, five rockets targeted an air base used by the coalition in western Iraq.
“We observed five rounds... the closest impact was two kilometres (1.2 miles) away,” a coalition official said. “No damage, no casualties.”
The rockets landed near the Ain Al-Asad air base in the desert of Iraq’s Al-Anbar province.
The same base was targeted on Tuesday, when US-led coalition forces shot down two armed drones.
In neighbouring Syria, the coalition said one of its bases in the northeast of the country had come under fire.
“Coalition forces were targeted this morning by eight rounds of indirect fire at Green Village” base, a coalition statement said.
“The attack did not cause any casualties, but several rounds impacted inside the coalition base and caused minor damage.”
The January 3, 2020 strike, ordered by then-US president Donald Trump, hit a car in which Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were travelling on the edge of the airport.
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