Bomb-laden drones hit airport in city of Erbil in northern Iraq near US military bases

Explosive laden drones targeted the international airport located in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, close to the American consulate late on Tuesday, Kurdistan Region's Counterterrorism Directorate said in a statement. Erbil is the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. At least three drones hit the airport at about 10:30 pm, causing a massive fire on the Union III site. This is where nearly 2,500 US-led coalition troops are stationed.

The Erbil airport houses the American military bases and international coalition forces that have been fighting against the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq. Dozens of rocket and improvised explosive device attacks have been targeted on the US Army facilities by the Iran-funded terror groups that call for the US forces to leave the Kurdistan region. 

A leading Kurdistan region’s daily Rudaw reported, that US and Kurdish authorities declared no casualties or physical damages from the attacks. The telegram channels of an Iraqi state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shiite militias, Popular Mobilization Forces PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi claimed that there were 20 rockets and three drones fired at the Erbil. This would be the third attack in less than 24 hour after the United States armed forces shot down an explosive-laden drone hovering over the US embassy in Baghdad late Monday night. In the afternoon, at least three Katyusha rockets targeted Ayn al Asad airbase that housed US-led coalition forces in Iraq’s western province of Anbar. 

[Credit: Instagram/7ummit]

The US Department of State meanwhile downplayed the Iranian militia's attack on the US military base saying, “We are aware of reporting of a UAS incident in the vicinity of Erbil, Iraq. At this time, initial reports indicate no structural damage, injuries, or casualties," a Department of Defense spokesperson said. The pro-Iran militias have stockpiled large stores of rockets and drones as well as ballistic missiles in Iraq and Syria as they ramped up the hostilities against the US military troops that make it difficult for them to trespass the autonomous Kurdish region due to the armed security wall. 

A spokesman of the international coalition forces in Iraq, Wayne Marotto, tweeted saying that the airbase perimeter was hit by three rockets at 2.45 pm, however, no casualties were reported. Formerly known as al-Qadisiyah, the Ayn al Asad military base located some 190 km northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad has been a frequent target of mortar and rocket attacks by Iran-backed Shiite militias,  that operate both in Iraq and Syria. 

The Ayn al-Asad airbase was also attacked by a rocket on June 20, as well as in the month of May.  Earlier yesterday, US Army Colonel  Wayne Marotto also informed that the Salafi jihadist terror outfit the Islamic State of Iraq or the Daesh had been blowing up the power transmission towers and that the security forces deployed on an operation were safeguarding the electric towers. 

[Ayn Al Asad base. Credit: AP]

Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada commander vows revenge 

Earlier this month, the US Air Force carried out the airstrikes near the Iraq-Syria border against what the Pentagon described were the facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups to support drone strikes inside Iraq. The airstrike killed four militiamen as well as the members of the Popular Mobilization Forces PMF. In an interview with AP, the commander of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Abu Alaa al-Walae, had vowed to bolster the presence of the Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle East, and retaliate for the death of his four men by strengthening counter-drone strikes and covert operations inside Iraq.