7 Injured, 2 Airlifted for Care After Rocket Attack on US Base in Iraq

Seven personnel were injured at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq after a pair of rockets hit the U.S. military base Monday afternoon, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

A defense official told Military.com in an email that the injured included five U.S. service members and two U.S. contractors, with two having been evacuated for further care. All seven were in stable condition, according to the official, who did not specify the occupation of the two who were airlifted for care.

The attack comes as tensions in the region simmer following a pair of Israeli strikes that killed two top Iranian-backed militia leaders in Iran and Lebanon, prompting Iranian threats of retaliation.

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Late on Monday, officials confirmed the rocket attack but were able to offer only "initial indications" that "several U.S. personnel were injured."

While officials have not said who they believe is responsible for this strike, the Pentagon has consistently attributed attacks on Al Asad and other bases in the region to Iranian-supported groups and militias.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria had taken to regularly attacking U.S. bases in the region shortly after Israel began its military operation in Gaza in response to a brutal and surprise strike by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, against Israel that left more than a thousand Israelis dead and hundreds taken hostage.

Between October 2023 and late January 2024, the Pentagon said that American forces in Iraq and Syria endured around 165 attacks that injured at least 80 service members. In response, the Pentagon conducted several airstrikes on various Iranian-backed militia locations in Syria and Iraq.

In late January, an attack on a U.S. base in Jordan killed three Army reservists and prompted a massive retaliatory strike by U.S. forces that hit more than 85 targets in seven locations. Since then, attacks on U.S. bases had largely subsided.

"We did see a slowdown of attacks," Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters last week, before adding that "we saw one in April and then, again, we saw a long period of pause, and that's what we want to continue to see."

In response to the escalations in hostilities, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday redirected the USS Abraham Lincoln and its associated strike group to the region, and Navy officials said that the service had ordered two destroyers to the Red Sea and closer to Israel on Monday.

That came a day after Austin told Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant he backed Israel's right to self-defense against "threats from Iran, Lebanese Hizballah [sic], Houthis, and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups."

In an emailed statement issued Friday, the Pentagon also announced that it was "taking steps to increase our readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense" and that Austin "has also ordered the deployment of an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East, reinforcing our defensive air support capability."

However, officials would not offer any details on what units were taking part, and Singh said Friday that she was "not aware that any units have been put on [prepare to deploy] orders."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that the three troops killed in late January were Army reservists.

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