US air strike foils rocket attack on Iraqi air base, sources say
PHOTO CAPTION: Representational photo — An F-15E Strike Eagle, deployed to the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing, takeoffs jinto the night from undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Dec. 30, 2020. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Jonathan Young via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
ANBAR, Iraq (Reuters) - A U.S. air strike on a rocket launcher late on Monday foiled an attack on Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts U.S. and other international forces in western Iraq, two Iraqi army sources said.
Iraqi military sources said a rocket launcher fixed on the back of a small truck had been parked in a rural area about 7 km (4 miles) to the east of the base, with at least two rockets ready to be fired towards Ain al-Asad.
The U.S. air strike destroyed the launcher, an army official said.
U.S.-led coalition officials were not immediately available to comment on the strike.
The United States has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 more in neighbouring Iraq and says their mission is to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later pushed back.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began last October, the U.S. military has come under attack at least 100 times in Iraq and Syria, usually with a mix of rockets and attack drones.
Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria oppose Israel's campaign in Gaza and hold the U.S. partly responsible.
(Reporting by Kamal Ayash, Writing by Ahmed Rasheed, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
