3 Troops Killed in Rocket Attack on Coalition Base in Iraq
Jeff Seldin – Voice of America
WASHINGTON - Two Americans and a coalition servicemember are dead, and a dozen more wounded, after a barrage of rockets slammed into a military base north of Baghdad.
According to U.S. and Iraqi officials, the attack was carried out by militants operating a modified truck to launch rockets at Camp Taji.
A U.S. official told VOA the truck managed to fire about 30 rockets, 18 of which hit the base.
U.S. Central Command spokesman, Capt. Bill Urban confirmed to VOA that two U.S. servicemembers, along with another member of the U.S.-led coalition, were killed.
Media reports said the third servicemember was from Britain.
Twelve more people, including both U.S. and coalition troops and a contractor were injured.
U.S. military officials said it was too early to assign blame for the attack and that the investigation was still ongoing.
Iraqi military officials were the first to share word of the rocket attack, tweeting that only ten rockets had hit Camp Taji while sharing photos of the abandoned truck, which was found nearby.
The early report also said no one had been killed or injured.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have periodically shelled bases housing U.S. troops.
One such attack by the Kataib Hezbollah militia this past December killed a U.S. contractor at a base near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The U.S. responded with a series of retaliatory strikes.
Several reports from Syrian state media and social media accounts claimed airstrikes late Wednesday hit a series of targets in Syria, near the border with Iraq, possibly targeting Iranian-backed militias.