Three U.S.-led coalition troops injured in new attack on Iraq's Taji

Three U.S.-led coalition troops were wounded in a rocket attack on Iraq's Taji military base, the coalition's spokesman said in a statement.

"The (coalition) confirms at least (25) 107mm rockets impacted Iraq's Camp Taji base hosting Coalition troops, March 14 at 10:51 a.m. (Iraq Time). 3-Coalition WIA (wounded in action), 2-Iraqi WIA. Assessment and investigation ongoing," coalition spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III said on Twitter.

A fresh spate of rockets targeted an Iraqi base north of Baghdad where foreign troops are deployed, in a rare daytime attack on Saturday, Iraqi and U.S. security sources told reporters.

It was the 23rd such attack since late October on installations across Iraq where American troops and diplomats are based, with the latest rounds growing deadlier.

No group has ever claimed responsibility for the attacks but the U.S. has blamed hardline elements of the Hashed al-Shaabi, a network of armed groups incorporated into the Iraqi state.

Several Katyusha rockets were fired at the Taji air base on Saturday, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said, for the second time in a week.

There was no immediate information on casualties.

Members of Iraqi security forces check the damages at an under-construction civilian airport which , according Iraqi religious authorities, was hit by U.S. airstrikes, in Kerbala, Iraq, March 13, 2020. /Reuters

The U.S.-led coalition's surveillance capabilities have been impaired by cloudy weather in recent days, which the U.S. officials said may have contributed to the attackers' readiness to launch the rockets during the day instead of under the cover of night.

Taji is overcrowded with members of the U.S.-led coalition helping Iraq fight jihadist remnants, after units were moved to the air base from other installations.

On Thursday, the U.S. waged a series of precision airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia in Iraq which it blamed for a major rocket attack a day earlier that killed two American troops and a British soldier.

At least five members of Iraq's security forces and one civilian were killed. None of them were members of the Hashed, according to Iraq's military.

Iraq condemned the overnight U.S. airstrikes on Friday, warning of dangerous consequences for what it called a violation of sovereignty and targeted aggression against the nation's regular armed forces.

(With input from AFP, Reuters)