(Baghdad) Several rockets were fired Thursday towards a base hosting troops of the international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States in Iraq, Iraqi and American security officials said.
“Four rockets fell near” the Ain al-Assad base in the western province of Anbar, an Iraqi security source said.
Another Iraqi security official said an attack took place with “a drone and three rockets” that were found near the perimeter of the base.
A U.S. official said the projectiles landed outside the base without causing any human or material damage, according to initial reports.
All sources spoke on condition of anonymity and were not authorized to speak to the media.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq have largely halted similar attacks on U.S.-backed troops in recent months.
Thursday’s attack came after Iraqi and U.S. officials held a security meeting in Washington this week on the future of the international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq. Iranian-backed groups had demanded its withdrawal.
The U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday that “the delegations reached agreement on the concept of a new phase of bilateral security relations.”
This phase would include “cooperation through liaison officers, training and traditional security cooperation programs.”
On July 16, two drones were launched against coalition troops stationed on the same base, without causing any damage or injuries.
The United States deploys about 2,500 troops in Iraq and nearly 900 in Syria, as part of the coalition created in 2014 to fight the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
This winter, the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a nebulous group of pro-Iran Iraqi movements, carried out more than 175 rocket attacks and drone strikes in Iraq and Syria against the coalition.
In April, rocket attacks from northern Iraq targeted a coalition base in Syrian territory.
In late January, a drone strike killed three American soldiers in the Jordanian desert on the border with Syria.