ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Two Katyusha rockets landed near Taji military base, north of Baghdad on Saturday night, a spokesperson for the US-led coalition confirmed.
“Two small rockets” landed near the base, according to Col.Myles B Caggins III, who cited Iraq’s Security Media Cell. No coalition troops were injured, he added.
Saturday’s attack is the latest of several rocket attacks targeting Taji base and Baghdad’s Green Zone after Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) personnel raided the headquarters of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Baghdad province on June 26, detaining at least 14 fighters of the group who were accused of recent rocket attacks in the capital.
One Katyusha rocket landed in Baghdad's Green Zone, another rocket was intercepted before it was fired and a third fell just outside of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) Fifth Branch in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood on Tuesday night.
The US has attributed past rocket attacks on sites of international importance in the Green Zone to Iran-backed militias, who it says are looking to further inflame US-Iran tensions.
On Tuesday an IED attack targeted a convoy transporting US-led coalition equipment in Taji town.
Iraqi contractor companies transporting US-led coalition equipment inside Iraq have been targeted multiple times in recent months. Most of the attacks are claimed by armed groups formed after the January killing of Iranian commander Qasem Solaimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi) in a US drone attack in Baghdad.
Groups such as Asahab al-Kahaf, Usbat al-Thaireen, and Liwa'a Thaier al-Muhandis were formed after the US drone attack to avenge the deaths of Soleimani and Muhandis.
Taji base was repeatedly targeted after the assassinations.
Two Americans and one Briton were killed in March after fifteen Kaytusha rockets were fired within the perimeter of the base.
