U.S. soldiers are seen at the site where an Iranian missile hit at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar Province, Iraq, January 13, 2020. /Reuters
A pair of rockets hit an Iraqi base hosting military coalition led by the United States and troops from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Iraq's military said Tuesday, the third attack on installations hosting foreign forces in a week.
The rockets slammed into the Besmaya base south of Baghdad late Monday night, a statement by the military said, making no mention of casualties.
Spanish forces linked to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (ISIL) group, as well as NATO training forces, are present in Besmaya.
The last week has seen a renewed spike in rockets hitting Iraqi bases hosting foreign forces, with three coalition troops killed on March 11 in a similar attack on the Taji airbase, which was hit again on March 14.
No attacks have been claimed but Washington has blamed Kataeb Hezbollah, a hardline faction in the Hashed al-Shaabi - a military network incorporated into the Iraqi state.
The U.S. waged a series of precision airstrikes on Thursday against an Iran-backed militia in Iraq on which it blamed the major rocket attack.
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.
The U.S.-led coalition announced on Monday that its forces are leaving some of smaller bases in Iraq after multiple rocket attacks in recent months.
Iraqi army soldiers inspect the destruction at an airport complex under construction in Karbala, Iraq, Friday, March 13, 2020. /AP
Since late October, there have been 24 rocket attacks on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and bases where foreign troops are deployed, killing a total of three American military personnel, one British soldier and one Iraqi soldier.
The U.S. has long insisted Baghdad should do more to reign in such factions and prevent them from targeting American troops and diplomats.
But Washington took a much tougher line in December after a U.S. contractor was killed in a rocket attack, launching retaliatory air strikes against Kataeb Hezbollah.
The faction's supporters then surrounded and briefly stormed the U.S. embassy.
Days later, Washington killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Hashed deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike near Baghdad.
Outraged, Iran launched cruise missiles at the largest Iraqi base hosting U.S. troops and the Iraqi parliament voted to oust all foreign forces from the country. The parliamentary vote has yet to be implemented by a government.
(With input from AFP)