US Forces Stationed in Iraq Targeted Again

An Iraqi base hosting American forces on Saturday came under fire yet again, as four rockets hit Balad Air Base north of Baghdad, injuring at least one Iraqi civilian. Local security officials reported that no group had claimed responsibility for the attack, the second rocket strike to target US troops in the country in less than a week. A small Iran-backed paramilitary group claimed the previous incident, in which a rocket killed a local contractor working alongside US forces at Erbil national airport. The scattered Shi’ite organizations, some part of the official Iraqi military, have been targeting American military and diplomatic personnel in an attempt to accelerate the American withdrawal from Iraq. Washington, meanwhile, has said it will review the previous administration’s decision to pull out the 2,500 soldiers remaining in the country, to ensure that the NATO-led mission does not collapse.