3 rockets hit US military base in Baghdad

Three rockets have hit US military air base 80 kilometres north of Baghdad. The Al-Balad military air base hosts US forces in Iraq. It was not clear where the missiles came from.

According to reports, the unguided projectiles which exploded inside the facility did not cause any casualty. Extent of material damage is also unknown.

There were earlier two explosions at the Green Zone – the heavily fortified quarter of the Iraqi capital that houses foreign missions and government buildings. One rocket reportedly hit in the vicinity of the US embassy, reportedly damaging a road.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Shia paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah has warned local forces to steer clear of any US bases or compounds housing American troops. To stay safe, they must remain at least one kilometre away from such facilities, the group said, implying that further attacks are expected, rt.com reported.

Kataib Hezbollah, which emerged during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, has been waging anti-US insurgency for years. Currently, however, it is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – a government-sponsored umbrella organization that united and recognized various militant groups during the Washington-backed campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists.

The incidents followed the assassination of the Iranian Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani. He was killed in a US airstrike on the outskirts of Baghdad alongside several other high-ranking Iranian and Iraqi military officials.

The killing prompted a furious reaction both in Iran and Iraq.

Tehran vowed retaliation for Soleimani’s death, which it described as an act of international terrorism. The elite Iranian IRGC force said that at least 35 “vital” US and Israeli targets in the region are within its reach for a guaranteed strike.

Iraq, meanwhile, accused the US of violating its sovereignty.