Rockets hit coalition airbase in Iraq

The Ain al-Asad airbase, home to U.S. and other coalition troops in western Iraq, came under rocket attack on Wednesday. At least 10 rockets targeted the base located in al-Anbar province. According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, a U.S. contractor “suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering” and died later, but the attack did not kill or wound any U.S. service members. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Has the base been hit before? The same airbase previously came under attack on Jan. 9, 2020, when Iran launched missiles in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani. That strike against the base wounded dozens of U.S. service members. Wednesday’s attack was the first against coalition forces since last week’s U.S. airstrike on military targets at the Iraq-Syria border.

Dig deeper: Read a report by Rachel Lynn Aldrich in The Sift about casualties from Iran’s 2020 attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.