At least three rockets have been spotted within the Baghdad International Airport compound and close to another US airbase, injuring one used civilian aircraft, Iraqi police sources claimed.
The rockets struck Baghdad International Airport’s runways, and parking areas, a source from the interior ministry said, noting that a “civilian plane has been hit and damaged.” The attack has not been immediately reported.
The authorities did not mention any other damages or injuries sustained in the attack on Friday. The officials also said that the destroyed Iraqi Airways aircraft was out of service.
The state news agency of Iraq reported that there was no delay in travel, citing the country’s aviation authority.
Through its official social media channels, Iraqi Airways posted pictures of the damages, made up of a hole in the plane’s nose. The airline said that no flights were affected by the incident.
It is a US airbase, also known by the name of Camp Victory, is located on the outskirts of Baghdad’s civil airport.
The rocket attacks that both the United States and some Iraqi officials blame on Iran-aligned Shia militia groups opposed to the US presence there have frequently targeted the area in recent times.
In the last month, at most, four rockets struck the US Embassy in Baghdad’s highly secured Green Zone, wounding two civilians, as per two Iraqi security officials.
Three missiles hit within the boundaries of the embassy. Another hit a school within a nearby residential area which injured two persons.
Green Zone Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions, including the US Embassy and the Iraqi Prime Minister’s residence.
This region has often been the target of missile attacks since the murder of General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US drone strike in January of 2020.
The militias have pledged revenge on Soleimani’s murder and have made it a condition of the cessation of the violence on the complete departure of American troops from the country.
Baghdad and Washington reached an agreement in the fourth and final session of the dialogue on strategic issues on the 26th of July to pull out the US military from Iraq at 2021’s end.
About 2,500 soldiers are expected to remain in the force as the coalition moves into an advisory mission to support Iraqi troops.
On the 3rd of January, US forces destroyed two drones armed with weapons that targeted an alliance at Baghdad airport, According to a source in the coalition.