Five arrested over attack that wounded US troops in Iraq airbase, statement says
PHOTO CAPTION: Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service Basic Leader Course students provide security while conducting tactical movement to clear a training objective near Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 5, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Sarah Zaler via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
CAIRO (Reuters) - Security forces have arrested five people in connection with an attack this week at a military base in Iraq in which five U.S. troops and two U.S. contractors were wounded, Iraqi officials said on Thursday.
The arrests were announced by the Iraqi Security Media Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information.
"After in-depth legal investigations and listening to witnesses' statements ... five of those involved in this illegal act were arrested," the Security Media Cell added in a statement.
In Monday's attack, two Katyusha rockets were fired at Ain al-Asad airbase in the west of the country. On Tuesday, Iraq's military condemned what it called "reckless" actions against bases on its soil and said it had captured a truck with a rocket launcher.
The attack came as the Middle East braced for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies following last week's killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
It was unclear whether the incident in Iraq was linked to threats by Iran to retaliate over the killing in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Iraq is a rare ally of both the U.S. and Iran. It hosts 2,500 U.S. troops and has Iran-backed militias linked to its security forces. It has witnessed escalating tit-for-tat attacks since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza in October.
Iraq wants troops from the U.S.-led military coalition to begin withdrawing in September and to formally end the coalition's work by September 2025, Iraqi sources have said, with some U.S. forces likely to remain in a newly negotiated advisory capacity.
(Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Frances Kerry)
