Rocket hits perimeter of Iraq's Baghdad airport

Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-09 04:13:52|Editor: huaxia

BAGHDAD, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A rocket on Monday evening landed on the perimeter of Iraq's Baghdad International Airport, the Iraqi military said.

The rocket was launched from Arab Khudair area south of the airport, said the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) in a statement, without giving details about the casualties.

The security forces immediately started a search for whoever carried out the attack on the airport area, according to the JOC statement.

It is worth noting that U.S. troops are stationed at a military base as part of the Baghdad airport.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, as the military bases housing U.S. troops across Iraq have been frequently targeted by mortar and rocket attacks.

The attack came days before a strategic dialogue scheduled for mid-June between Baghdad and Washington for a decision on the future of the U.S. forces in Iraq.

The Iraqi-U.S. relations have witnessed a tension since Jan. 3 when a U.S. drone struck a convoy at Baghdad airport, which killed Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.

The U.S. airstrike prompted the Iraqi parliament on Jan. 5 to pass a resolution requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in the country.

More than 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against the Islamic State militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces. Enditem

KEY WORDS:
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011102121391244651