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| Iraq will investigate attack on base that killed US troops | Iraq will investigate attack on base that killed US troops |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| BAGHDAD — Iraq’s military said Thursday it opened an investigation into a rocket attack that killed three service members, including two Americans, at an Iraqi base housing coalition forces, igniting fears of an escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions after months of detente. | |
| At least 12 coalition personnel were also wounded late Wednesday by a barrage of rockets targeting Camp Taji base, located 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of Baghdad, according to a U.S.-led coalition statement. | |
| A British service member, identified as 26-year old Lance Corp. Brodie Gillon was also killed in the attack, according to London’s Defense Ministry. | |
| A truck rigged with 107 mm Katyusha rocket launchers was discovered by Iraqi security forces a few kilometers (miles) from the base following the attack. | |
| A military statement from Iraq’s joint operations command said caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordered the investigation into what he called “a very serious security challenge and hostile act.” | A military statement from Iraq’s joint operations command said caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordered the investigation into what he called “a very serious security challenge and hostile act.” |
| The United Nations condemned the attack, saying it took “critical political attention away” from Iraq’s ongoing domestic challenges, which threaten to create a power vacuum in the Iraqi government. | |
| “The last thing Iraq needs is to serve as an arena for vendettas and external battles,” the statement said. | “The last thing Iraq needs is to serve as an arena for vendettas and external battles,” the statement said. |
| The attack came as a potential leadership void looms over Iraq after prime minister-designate Mohammed Allawi withdrew his nomination earlier this month. It also comes as the country’s decrepit health care system struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic. | |
| Allawi’s stepping down followed political squabbling over the naming of his Cabinet. Shortly afterward, the caretaker premier, Abdul-Mahdi, said he would no longer carry out most of his official duties and called for early elections. | |
| The attack was the deadliest to target U.S. troops in Iraq since a late December rocket attack on an Iraqi base that killed a U.S. contractor and set in motion a series of tit-for-tat attacks that brought Iraq to the brink of war. | |
| American airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah led to protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. | |
| A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad then killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top commander responsible for expeditionary operations across the wider Mideast. Iran struck back with a ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq, the Islamic Republic’s most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. | A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad then killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top commander responsible for expeditionary operations across the wider Mideast. Iran struck back with a ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq, the Islamic Republic’s most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. |
| The U.S. and Iran stepped stepped back from further attacks after the incident. A senior U.S. official had said in late January, when U.S.-Iran tensions had cooled, that the killing of Americans constituted a red line that could spark more violence. | |
| Wednesday’s attack coincided with what would have been Soleimani’s birthday. | Wednesday’s attack coincided with what would have been Soleimani’s birthday. |
| U.S. officials have described Soleimani’s killing as an act of deterrence against Iranian aggression. U.S. troops had faced an increase in rocket attacks in the weeks leading up to the strike. | |
| But analysts said Wednesday’s attack demonstrated that Soleimani’s assassination had done little to alter the behavior of Iran-backed groups. | |
| “The attacks underline how negligible the strategic impact of Soleimani’s assassination has been. The drivers of U.S.-Iranian escalation remain in place,” said Fanar Haddad, senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore. | |
| “Such an attack closer to the aftermath of Soleimani’s assassination would have been a lot riskier with Trump’s attention focused on Iran. The passage of time was key.” | |
| Iran-backed militia groups issued statements Thursday supporting Wednesday’s attack, but none claimed responsibility. | |
| Kataib Hezbollah “blessed” those who carried out the rocket attack and described U.S. troops as “occupying forces that must bear the consequences of their illegal presence” in Iraq. | |
| There are at least 5,200 U.S. troops in Iraq, training and advising Iraqi forces as part of a global coalition. | There are at least 5,200 U.S. troops in Iraq, training and advising Iraqi forces as part of a global coalition. |
| ___ | |
| Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Pan Pylas in London contributed. | |
| Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. |