Tension brews as US forces are hit on the Ongoing IRAN VS AMERICA rival.
The Iraqi military on Sunday claimed that a volley of rockets was slammed into an Iraqi airbase north of Baghdad which houses the USA forces. Four local troops were reportedly wounded. It is also reported that eight Katyusha-type rockets landed on Al-Balad airbase, wounding two Iraqi officers and two airmen.
The Al-Balad, houses the airbase for Iraq’s F-16s and had held a small US Air Force contingent as well as American contractors, but a majority had been evacuated following tensions between the US and Iran over the past two weeks, military sources revealed to AFP.
“About 90 percent of the US advisers, and employees of Sallyport and Lockheed Martin who are specialised in aircraft maintenance, have withdrawn to Taji and Erbil after threats,” one of the sources said.
“There are no more than 15 US soldiers and a single plane at al-Balad,” the source added.
The tension in the area brews as this is not the first time Military bases hosting US troops have been subject to attacks. An American contractor killed last month, set off a series of dramatic developments. The US in retaliation carried out a drone strike killing the top Iranian and Iraqi commanders outside Baghdad airport. The attacks are still taking place at the bases of the US embassy.