Looks like an attempt by an Iran-affiliated militia group in Iraq to lob rockets at a U.S. military base in Syria was a total dud.
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MOSUL, Iraq, April 21 (Reuters) – At least five rockets were launched from Iraq’s town of Zummar towards a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters.
The attack against U.S. forces is the first since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against U.S. troops.
The attack comes one day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States and met with President Joe Biden at the White House.
Comically, the truck that the rockets were allegedly fired from appears to have caught fire when some “unfired rockets” exploded.
Two security sources and a senior army officer said a rocket launcher fixed on the back of a small truck had been parked in Zummar border town with Syria.
The military official said the truck caught fire with an explosion from unfired rockets at the same time as warplanes were in the sky.
“We can’t confirm that the truck was bombed by U.S. warplanes unless we investigate it,” said a military official on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident.
Iraqi security forces were deployed in the area and launched a hunt for the perpetrators who fled the area using another vehicle, said a security official who is based in the town of Zummar.
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In other words, the attack ended up a comedy of errors. At the time of this writing, no injuries or damages were reported at the U.S. base from the rockets.
There was also conflicting reporting that the truck was “destroyed by an air strike”:
An army officer said the truck was seized for further investigation and initial investigation shows that it was destroyed by an air strike.
“We are communicating with the coalition forces in Iraq to share information on this attack,” the officer added.
The rocket attack comes a day after explosions rocked an Iraqi militia’s base, which were initially thought to be bombing by Israel or the United States. Iraqi authorities are still investigating the attacks against the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of Iran-linked militias in Iraq–although it’s still not clear if there was even an air strike or who was responsible for it:
The PMF in a statement Saturday afternoon described the blast as an “attack” but did not blame any specific party.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell said the country’s air defense command had not detected any drones or fighter plane in the airspace of Babylon before or during the explosion.
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Read: UPDATE: US, Israeli Officials Say They Did Not Launch Airstrike on Iraqi Militia Base
UPDATED: Reports of Israel Carrying Out New Bombing in Iraq (Video)
The last attack to cause injuries of U.S. personnel came in January, when an Iran-affiliated militia in Iraq fired ballistic missiles and rockets at Al Asad airbase. An unknown number of US servicemembers were evaluated for possible traumatic brain injuries, and one Iraqi service member was injured.
This is a developing story, and RedState will keep you posted on any updates.