US forces at Iraq's Baghdad airport attacked with rockets

Rockets were fired at a base housing US-led coalition forces at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on Tuesday, causing no casualties, the interior ministry and two security sources said.

“The Victory Base at Baghdad Airport was targeted with three rockets, two of which were shot down by the base’s special defences, while the third fell near the headquarters of the Counter Terrorism Service Command,” a security source said.

A second security source said there were no casualties and that the incident had not affected air traffic.

The interior ministry later said “two Katyusha rockets fell, the first in the garage of the second regiment of the Counter-Terrorism Service and the other in an abandoned yard inside the airport”.

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It said an investigation has begun into the attack which comes as Israeli forces launched ground raids and air strikes on Lebanon, raising fears of a wider regional conflict amid the ongoing the war in Gaza.

Since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, militant factions have targeted bases in Iraq and Syria that house US troops because of American military support for Israel.

Washington has repeatedly responded with air strikes on faction headquarters in both countries.

The United States has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and around 900 in neighbouring Syria as part of the coalition it established in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group.

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The coalition also includes forces from other countries including Britain and France.

Armed Iraqi factions loyal to Iran have demanded the withdrawal of those troops.

Washington and Baghdad announced on Friday that the international coalition would end its decade-long military mission in Iraq within a year.

But the joint statement and US officials did not say how many American troops would remain in Iraq.

In response, the Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee, a coalition of Iran-backed armed groups opposed to the United States and Israel, called for the withdrawal to be “comprehensive and according to a clear timeline”.

After a decline in militant attacks in recent months, rockets were fired in August at the Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, injuring seven Americans.

And in September, Washington said the US diplomatic complex in Baghdad was attacked by Iran-aligned militias operating in Iraq.