Another Rocket Attack on U.S. Base in Iraq, Three Coalition Troops, Two Iraqi Troops Wounded

Background: three coalition troops were killed this week in rocket attacks by Hezbollah Iran backed militants. DOD 13 March DOD responded with reports of strikes on the militants:

Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata’ib Hizbollah (KH) facilities across Iraq. These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces.

These strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups (SMG) who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces.

Yesterday’s attack on Camp Taji killed two U.S. and one U.K. service members and wounded 14 others. It marked the latest in a series of rocket attacks conducted by Iranian-backed SMGs against U.S. and coalition personnel – killing five and wounding dozens more, including Iraqi Security Forces.

“The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies,” Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper said. “As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region.”

During discussions with senior Iraqi officials, the department re-emphasized its commitment to the force protection of coalition service members and to preventing SMG attacks on coalition forces.

A number of SMGs, including KH, have a strong linkage with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force and have repeatedly received lethal aid and other support from Iran that they have used to attack coalition forces.

These SMGs and their Iranian supporters must cease their attacks on U.S. and coalition forces or face consequences at a time and place of our choosing.

The U.S. and the coalition remain committed to the lasting defeat of ISIS, and the long-term security and stability of Iraq.

14 March RFE reporting. A number of rockets have hit a military base housing U.S. and other coalition troops north of Baghdad, injuring three American troops, two of them seriously, and critically wounding two Iraqi air defense personnel.

The attack on Camp Taji on March 14 came just days after a similar attack there killed three military personnel, including one British and two American soldiers.

Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman would not speculate on possible U.S. responses to the latest attack but cited the words of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper from last week, repeating in a statement, according to Reuters: “You cannot attack and wound American Service Members and get away with it, we will hold them to account.”

The U.S. military said Iraqi forces had made initial arrests of suspects and that an investigation was continuing.

The Pentagon also said the two seriously wounded U.S. troops were being treated at a Baghdad-area military hospital.

The Iraqi military said 33 Katyusha rockets had been launched at Camp Taji. It said in a statement that seven rocket launchers and 24 unused rockets were later recovered in the nearby Abu Izam area. 

The military said the U.S. or other foreign forces should not use the attack as pretext to take military action without Iraq’s approval. It called on all foreign troops to quickly implement a parliamentary resolution calling for their withdrawal.

An Iraqi military spokesman told the AFP news agency that two Iraqi air defense members had been wounded in the attack. 

The March 11 attack on Camp Taji was the first deadly targeting of U.S. troops in Iraq since a late December rocket attack on an Iraqi base killed a U.S. contractor and triggered a series of tit-for-tat attacks.

In retaliation, the United States launched a series of air strikes early on March 13 on militia bases across Iraq’s south, killing five Iraqi security personnel and a civilian. 

The U.S. military said it had targeted sites used by the Iran-backed Kataib Hizbullah militia. 

Iraqi President Barham Salih on March 13 condemned the U.S. attack, warning that the country could slip into “chaos” and become a “failed state.”

The Iraqi military said the “aggression” against its armed forces occurred in the areas of Jurf al-Sakher, Al-Musayib, Najaf, and Al-Iskandariya on the headquarters of the Iraqi Army.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that U.S. President Donald Trump should “reconsider the presence and behavior of his troops in the area” instead of making “dangerous actions and baseless accusations.”

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the response to the attack on coalition forces as “swift, decisive and proportionate,” and warned that anyone seeking to harm those forces could expect a “strong response.”

U.S. withdrawal sought VOA reporting

Iraqi TV reported that the Iraqi army was asking the U.S. to withdraw its forces from the country in line with an Iraqi parliament vote in January. A second, formal vote by parliament, however, was never conducted amid the country’s political confusion. Sunni and Kurdish members of parliament reportedly opposed the vote because of Iran’s influence on the country’s Shiite Hashd militia forces.

Funerals were held Saturday in Baghdad and Karbala for victims of the U.S. retaliatory airstrikes Friday.  Five Iraqi militiamen and soldiers and one civilian were killed in those strikes.

Iraqi President Barham Salih issued a statement condemning Friday’s U.S. strikes, calling them an “infringement on Iraqi sovereignty” and blaming the U.S. for “destroying Iraqi infrastructure and killing Iraqi forces.”

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Hakim summoned both the U.S. and British ambassadors Saturday to protest the Friday attack on Iraqi targets.  Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests, to protest the U.S. attack, in which one Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander reportedly was killed.

Iraqi analyst Oussama Saidi told state TV that relations between Washington and Baghdad “are currently a mess,” and he said U.S. President Donald Trump was “not pleased by what’s going on in Iraq because of U.S. elections in November.”