TIL Desk/World/Baghdad/ Seven Katyusha rockets on Sunday hit Balad air base, which previously housed US troops, in Iraq”s Salahudin province, informed sources said. The attack took place in the evening when the rockets landed on the air base, located around 90 km from Iraqi capital Baghdad, wounding two soldiers and causing damages to nearby buildings, a security source told.
Balad air base is the largest military air base in Iraq, also known by the US forces as the Logistics Support Activity (LSA) Anaconda. The air base was housing a number of US troops and advisors of an American company operating the Iraqi F-16 jet fighters, but they withdrew about a week ago after the international US-led coalition announced the suspension of its operations against the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack came a few days after Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Iraqi Iran-backed Shiite militia Asa”ib Ahl al-Haq, said the Iranian initial response to the killing of the Iranian military leader is done and it is time for Iraq to respond to the US airstrike.
