Ain al-Asad base was targeted with “15 rockets,” 13 of them were shot down by US air defenses and “two fell on the airbase,” an Iraqi police official told AFP.
A US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP that “missiles impacted” the airbase and an assessment of the damage was underway.
At least one member of the Iraqi security forces was injured, according to both Reuters and AFP.
Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, told state media that several rockets "landed" near the headquarters of the Iraqi army's 29th Brigade of the Seventh Division, within Ain al-Asad base.
An Iraqi soldier was injured in the strike and the headquarters was damaged, said Rasool. The base houses an Iraqi military headquarters and a training camp.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran, has claimed responsibility. In a statement, the group said it attacked Ain al-Asad with a “barrage of missiles” and “reaffirmed its commitment to striking the enemy’s strongholds.”
Sabreen News, affiliated with Iran-backed militia groups, reported that there were casualties among US troops and denied any injury among Iraq’s security forces.
US interests in Iraq and Syria have come under about 140 rocket and drone attacks since October 17 by Iraqi militia groups condemning the American government’s support for Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the majority of them.
On Thursday the group said it launched a drone strike on a base housing the US-led coalition against Islamic State (ISIS) near Erbil International Airport. The drone was shot down and destroyed according to Kurdistan’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD).
The attack on Ain al-Asad base comes hours after five Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military advisors were killed in an Israeli strike in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Updated at 9:17 pm with the statement from the Iraqi PM military spokesperson
