Rocket attack hits north Iraq base hosting US troops: Security sources

A rocket attack, the first attack on the K1 base since December 27th, on Thursday night slammed into an Iraqi base in the remote province of Kirkuk where American troops are stationed. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Baghdad: A Katyusha rocket hit an airbase hosting US troops in northern Iraq late Thursday causing no casualties, two Iraqi security officials said.

The shell struck the K1 Iraqi military airbase in Kirkuk province, according to the security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. They provided no additional details.

A rocket attack on the same base in December triggered a chain of retaliatory events that led to soaring US-Iran tensions and brought Iraq to the brink of war.

On Thursday, Iraqi forces conducted a search of the perimeter of the base and discovered a launching pad and 11 unused missiles, a statement from Iraq's military said.

A rocket attack on K1 killed a US contractor on December 27 and led Washington to conduct an airstrike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The attack infuriated Shiite Iraqi lawmakers who voted to oust US troops from the country in a Jan. 3 Parliament session. Iran retaliated for Soleimani's killing with a barrage of missiles that targeted two airbases hosting American troops in Irbil and Ain al-Asad.

Iran and the US have since refrained from further escalation, but the issue of American troops has monopolized Iraqi politics.

(AP Report)