MOSUL, Iraq – Two Iraqi security officials and an American official who spoke to Reuters reported that at least five rockets were fired on Sunday from the town of Zummar in Iraq. The rockets were directed towards a US military facility in northeastern Syria.
This is the first strike on US forces since early February, when militants in Iraq supported by Iran stopped attacking US forces.
It happens one day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a trip to the US, during which he had a meeting at the White House with President Joe Biden.
After nearly three months of no progress in discussions to halt the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq, armed factions in the country decided to resume attacks. A message on a Telegram group connected to Kataib Hezbollah relayed this decision.
Later, Sabreen News, a well-known Telegram group affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, claimed that the Iran-backed militia had not released an official statement.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. official stated that more than five rockets fired from Iraq hit troops at a coalition facility in Rumalyn, Syria. However, no U.S. personnel were hurt in the attack.
Although the official called it a “failed rocket attack,” it was unclear at first whether the rockets had failed to reach the base or had been destroyed en route. Furthermore, it was unclear if the base itself was the objective.
The official added that an aircraft from the coalition led by the United States in Syria and Iraq then struck the launcher.
Zummar, a hamlet on the Syrian border, is home to a tiny truck that has a rocket launcher installed on the back, according to two security sources and a senior army official in Iraq.
According to an army officer, the demolished truck was impounded for additional investigation. Preliminary findings indicated that an air attack caused its destruction.
“We are communicating with the coalition forces in Iraq to share information on this attack,” said the official.
The Iraqi Security Media Cell, the official organization responsible for distributing security information, announced in a statement that Iraqi forces had initiated “a wide-ranging search and inspection operation.” Their objective is to apprehend those who have committed crimes near the Syrian border.
The attacks followed a massive explosion early on Saturday at a military base in Iraq that claimed the life of an Iraqi security force member who was allied with forces backed by Iran. The army claimed it was conducting an investigation and that no warplanes were in the skies at the time, but the force commander claimed it was an attack.
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