Multiple surface-to-surface missiles hit Iraqi base hosting US soldiers

The Iranian government has taken responsibility for a series of rockets that were fired at an Iraqi base hosting American soldiers.

Iranian state TV says Tehran launched “tens” of surface-to-surface missiles at Iraq’s Ain Assad air base housing US troops in response to the killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.

State TV said the operation’s name was “Marytr Soleimani”, and that the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division, which controls Iran’s missile program, launched the attack.

It was not immediately clear whether the purported missile strikes struck the base or whether any damage had been caused.
 

? ?? BREAKING ?? ?#IRGC confirms hitting #US #AinAlAssad airbase in #Iraq with tens of missiles.#GeneralSoleimani #DecisiveResponse #SoleimaniAssassination pic.twitter.com/7r13OcqRqS

— Press TV (@PressTV) January 7, 2020

Ain Assad air base is located in Iraq’s western Anbar province. American forces have been stationed there since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

It later saw American troops stationed there amid the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

ATTACK CONFIRMED BY US OFFICIALS

US officials have confirmed the missile attack.

A senior US military source telling Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin: “Under missile attack from Iran. These are either cruise missiles or short range ballistic missiles. All over the country.”

“I’m talking to a well placed source in the US military, on the ground in Iraq, and that source tells me that these are multiple tactical ballistic, or cruise missiles that are being fired from Iran at multiple US bases and US targets inside Iraq,” Griffin said on the show. “They are under fire right now. I asked if they had any plans to evacuate, remember there are 5000 American troops in Iraq and I was told ‘no, we are defending.’ So, expect an American response.”

“This is something we have been expecting all afternoon, there were situation room meetings as well meetings with top officials here at the Penatgon,” she continued. “There was a lot of chatter, we were told intelligence suggesting that the Iranians would strike at US bases in Iraq after the that mourning for Qassem Soleimani ended earlier today.

“But right now, in real time, we can confirm that multiple sites, including Ain Assad Air Base in Western Iraq, where most of the US troops are based.”

BREAKING: Footage of Iran attack on US base Al Assad in Iraq.#AlAssad #Iraq pic.twitter.com/8CtLpgnsw6

— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) January 7, 2020

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the attack, with White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham saying he was aware of the reports.

“The President has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team,” she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been in contact with the chiefs of the Defence force and the Ministers for Defence and Foreign Affairs regarding the incident.

It comes two days after rockets were fired near the US Embassy in Baghdad in the wake of the assassination of Soleimani.

Two rockets hit near the US embassy in Baghdad on Sunday, marking the second night in a row that the Green Zone was hit and the 14th time over the past two months that US installations have been targeted.

A third rocket simultaneously hit a family home outside the Green Zone, wounding four.

Ties between Iraq and the US have deteriorated following Soleimani’s death.

Some 5,200 US soldiers are stationed across Iraqi bases to support local troops preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State jihadist group.

They are deployed as part of the broader international coalition, invited by the Iraqi government in 2014 to help fight IS.

— with wires