The US Department of Defense (DoD) has confirmed a rocket attack at the US and ally-occupied Al Asad military base in Iraq on 3 March.
In a media briefing, Pentagon press secretary John F Kirby said that the department counted ten ‘impact points’ from rockets.
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It is believed that the rockets were launched from points east of the installation.
The attacks were countered by the counter-rocket, artillery and mortar system (C-RAM). It is not yet confirmed whether the C-RAM was successful in engaging those rockets.
Pentagon said that it cannot attribute accountability for the latest strikes at this time as the department does not have a clear picture of the extent of the damage.
Currently, the cause of the incident is being investigated to know who is responsible for the attack.
Kirby noted that one American contractor suffered a ‘cardiac episode’ and later died as a result.
He said: “There are no current reports of US servicemember injuries and all are accounted for. We stand by as needed to assist our Iraqi partners as they investigate.”
“Let’s let our Iraqi partners investigate this, see what they learn, and then if a response is warranted, I think we have shown clearly that we won’t shy away from that. But we’re just not there yet.
“Nobody wants to see this escalate into a tit for tat. That is, that’s not in our interest. It’s not in the Iraqi people’s interest.”
