It is unclear if Saturday's attack will lead to additional U.S. military action.
March 14, 2020, 5:29 PM
6 min read
A new rocket attack against a base in Iraq housing servicemembers left three American troops wounded, according to a U.S. official.
The U.S. military carried out retaliatory airstrikes against weapons facilities belonging to an Iranian-backed Shiite militia group that were blamed for a similar attack on Wednesday on the base that killed two American service members and a British soldier.
A photo released by the government-affiliated Media Security Cell on March 12, 2020, shows a rocket-rigged truck launcher after a rocket attack on Camp Taji, a few miles north of Baghdad, in Rashidiya, Iraq. Iraq's military on Thursday said it opened an investigation into the rocket attack that hours earlier killed three servicemen, including two Americans, at an Iraqi base housing coalition forces that has been used as a training base for a number of years.
A photo released by the government-affiliated Media Security Cell on March 12, 2020, shows a rocket-rigged truck launcher after a rocket attack on Camp Taji, a few miles north of Baghdad, in Rashidiya, Iraq. Iraq's military on Thursday said it opened an investigation into the rocket attack that hours earlier killed three servicemen, including two Americans, at an Iraqi base housing coalition forces that has been used as a training base for a number of years.Media Security Cell via AP
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq confirmed via Twitter that three coalition members and two Iraqis were wounded in Saturday's attack on the large training base known as Camp Taji, located north of Baghdad.
"At least [25] 107mm rockets impacted Iraq's Camp Taji base hosting Coalition troops, March 14 at 10:51 a.m. (Iraq Time)," wrote Lt. Colonel Myles Caggins, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve "3-Coalition WIA (wounded in action) , 2-Iraqi WIA. Assessment and investigation ongoing,
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the three wounded coalition service members were Americans.
Iraqi Security Forces confirmed in a tweet that they had located the seven launch platforms used to launch the rockets at Camp Taji and found 24 unfired missiles.
The Pentagon has blamed the militia group, Kata'ib Hizbollah (KH), for more than a dozen rocket attacks in the last six months that have targeted U.S. military facilities in Iraq.
A rocket attack in December that killed an American contractor triggered a series of events that almost led the U.S. and Iran to the brink of war.
A U.S. Army paratrooper assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division pulls security during a base defense exercise on Camp Taji, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2020.
A U.S. Army paratrooper assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division pulls security during a base defense exercise on Camp Taji, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2020.U.S. Army
More than a dozen 107-millimeter rockets fired at Camp Taji on Wednesday killed the three coalition members and wounded 14 other personnel.
That attack led to the U.S. retaliatory airstrikes that targeted KH five weapons depots that housed weapons similar to the ones used in the deadly attack.
"We're not going to tolerate these direct attacks on American or coalition service members, and we're willing and able to respond," Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters on Friday.
“What should now be obvious to everyone is you're not going to be able to fire those at a U.S. or coalition base, hurt or kill our people, and escape unscathed," he said. The Iraqi government said later that five Iraqi security forces were killed in the attack.
U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division pull security during a base defense exercise at Camp Taji, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2020.
U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division pull security during a base defense exercise at Camp Taji, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2020.U.S. Army
McKenzie also warned Iran and its proxy groups to not respond to the airstrikes with new attacks "that would endanger U.S. and coalition forces or our partners."
"U.S. Central Command is well-postured to defend our forces around the region, and to respond to any further aggression against our forces," he said..
It is unclear if Saturday's attack will lead to additional U.S. military action against KH.
