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Rockets strike US military base in Iraq, no casualties

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ANI Middle East

Multiple rockets hit an airbase that houses US troops in western Iraq's Anbar province on Tuesday but no casualties were reported, the Iraqi military said.

The rockets struck the strategic Ain al-Assad base but there were no reports of damage or casualties and the origin of the missiles that hit the airbase was unknown, Russia Today reported.

The incident came just over a week after US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen had met the American soldiers stationed at the base ahead of Thanksgiving Day. President Donald Trump had also paid a visit to the base in Christmas last year.

 

The base was named Qadisiyah and built in the 1980s before US forces took over it following the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq. The airbase was subsequently renamed Al-Assad, which means 'The Lion' in Arabic.

Ain al-Assad had served as the largest US base in western Iraq until the troops withdrew from the war-torn country in 2011. The base was then handed over to the Iraqi security forces.

However, US and allied military personnel were deployed again in 2014, as part of their operation to wipe out the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group from Iraq.

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First Published: Dec 04 2019 | 3:04 AM IST

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