ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A rocket attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq's western Anbar province injured multiple US personnel on Monday night, Washington has confirmed.
“We can confirm that there was a suspected rocket attack today against U.S. and Coalition forces at Al Asad Airbase, Iraq,” a Pentagon spokesperson told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda on Monday, adding that a damage assessment was underway. “Initial indications are that several U.S. personnel were injured.”
In a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the attack was conducted by “Iran-aligned militia” and that it marked “a dangerous escalation and demonstrated Iran's destabilizing role in the region,” according to a US readout.
The Associated Press reported early Tuesday morning they were told by US officials that the military had investigated reports of a second attack at the airbase in Iraq, but they determined there was only one.
A local Iraqi official in Anbar province, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Rudaw on Monday night that rockets were launched from the industrial subdistrict of al-Haqlaniyah in Haditha district.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Monday’s attack at Ain al-Asad comes less than a week after the US military said it launched a “defensive” strike at an Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary base in Babil province’s Jurf al-Nasr (formerly Jurf al-Sakhr) “targeting combatants attempting to launch one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems.”
Several rockets reportedly targeted the Ain al-Asad airbase in late July, days after a high-level meeting between Iraqi and US defense officials with the goal of enhanced cooperation and the ensured protection of US forces in Iraq. No group claimed responsibility.
Tensions have been high between Washington and Baghdad since the start of the latest chapter in the Israel-Palestine conflict in October. Pro-Iran Iraqi militias have carried out over 165 attacks on US troops based in Iraq and Syria in condemnation of the US government’s support of Israel.
Also on Monday, US Central Command said on X that its forces intercepted several Iran-backed Houthis across Yemen, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Tensions are rising across the Middle East, as Iran, Hezbollah, and other Iran-backed groups have increased violent rhetoric against Israel and the United States.
Last week, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Iran blamed Israel for the attack and has vowed to retaliate, but Israel has not claimed responsibility.
