Five rockets fired from Iraq towards US military base in Syria – FBC News

(Source: India Today)

At least five missiles were launched on Sunday from the Iraqi town of Zummar towards a US military base in northeastern Syria, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters.

The attack on US troops is the first since early February, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq halted their attacks on US troops.

The attack comes a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States and met with President Joe Biden at the White House.

Two security sources and a senior army officer said a rocket launcher mounted on the back of a small truck was parked in the Syrian border town of Zummar.

The military official said the truck caught fire in an explosion of unfired rockets while fighter jets were in the air at the same time.

“We cannot confirm that the truck was bombed by US warplanes unless we investigate,” a military official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the incident.

Iraqi security forces were deployed to the area and launched a hunt for the perpetrators who fled the area in another vehicle, a security official stationed in the town of Zummar said.

The Iraqi Security Medica Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement that Iraqi forces had launched “an extensive search and inspection operation” against the perpetrators near the Syrian border, and vowed to bring them to justice to take.

An army officer said the truck has been seized for further investigation and preliminary investigations indicate it was destroyed by an airstrike.

“We are communicating with coalition forces in Iraq to share information about this attack,” the officer added.

The attacks came a day after a massive explosion early Saturday morning at a military base in Iraq killed a member of an Iraqi security force that includes Iranian-backed groups. The force commander said it was an attack, while the army said it was investigating and that no fighter jets were in the air at the time.