Rockets attack US units in Iraqi base ahead of Pope Francis’ visit

An airbase in Iraq hosting U.S. troops was struck by several rockets on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition forces in the country.

Colonel Wayne Marotto said that 10 rockets struck Ain al- Asad Air Base in the province of Anbar at 7:20 am and Iraqi security forces were leading an investigation into the incident. 

It was not presently known if there were any casualties. 

It is very rare for this kind of rocket attack to take place during the day.  

The attack happened days after the Pentagon launched airstrikes against Iran- aligned military targets along the Iraq- Syria border and Pope Francis is organized to make a high-profile visit to Iraq on Friday. The invasion also comes amid fears Washington and Tehran are in danger of repeating a series of tit-for-tat attacks that increased last year.

A spate of rocket attacks that targeted about 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq is the reason it launched an attack along the Iraq-Syria border. Iran-backed militants operating in Iraq were accused by the Pentagon of the Feb. 16 attack which killed a coalition contractor from the Philippines outside Iraq’s Irbil airport.

On Feb. 25, the Pentagon retaliated which was President Joe Biden’s first military action.

The assaults come as Iran and the U.S. are struggling to revive diplomacy connected to a 2015 nuclear deal exited by the Trump administration. 

Meanwhile, President Biden has promised to recalibrate U.S. national security actions to favor the middle class. 

Pope Francis is expected to take his first foreign trip to Iraq Friday-Monday since the pandemic outbroke last year. Over the weekend, the Vatican confirmed the decision to go ahead with the trip despite increasing coronavirus infections in Iraq. It said the pope’s trip is an “act of love for this land, for its people and for its Christians.”

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Wednesday’s rocket attack.