US-Led Coalition Troops Targeted By Drones, Rocket in Iraq

Two drones and a rocket targeting Iraqi army bases housing American forces were intercepted in two separate incidents on Sunday, Iraq’s military reported. The rocket, fired at Baghdad airport, was shot down “without causing casualties or damage,” Colonel Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the US-led coalition, said, while the two drones were destroyed over the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq.

While no organization claimed responsibility for the attacks, Washington has consistently accused local paramilitary cells backed by Iran of targeting its troops in the area. Dozens of similar incidents have occurred in the past six months alone. While the US withdrew its presence from Iraq in 2011, nearly a decade after its post-9/11 invasion, a coalition led by Washington was later sent to aid the country in its battle against ISIS.