BAGHDAD (Parliament Politics Magazine): According to Iraqi police reports, at least three rockets landed in the compound of the Baghdad International Airport and close to a US airbase that is adjacent to it, damaging one derelict civilian airliner.
A source in the interior ministry said, the rockets hit the runways or parking areas of Baghdad International Airport, and a “civilian plane was hit and wrecked.” The attack wasn’t immediately claimed responsibility for.
Officials said there weren’t any other injuries or damages in Friday’s strike, and that the wrecked Iraqi Airways plane was no longer in service.
Travel was not disrupted, according to Iraq’s national news agency, which cited the country’s aviation authority.
Iraqi Airways shared photos of the damage, which included a hole near the plane’s nose, on its social media pages. According to the airline, no flights were impacted by the strike.
Camp Victory, a US airfield, is located on the outskirts of Baghdad’s civilian airport.
In recent years, the facility has been struck by rocket assaults blamed by the US and officials of Iraq on Iran-aligned Shia armed groups who are in opposition of the US military’s presence in the region.
According to two Iraqi security officials, about four rockets were fired towards the embassy of the US in Baghdad’s heavily protected Green Zone earlier this month, hurting two civilians.
Three of the missiles hit the embassy’s perimeter, while another struck a nearby residential complex’s school, injuring two people.
Most foreign diplomatic missions, notably the US embassy and the Iraqi prime minister’s residence, are located in the Green Zone.
Since the death of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US drone operation in January 2020, it has been a repeated target of rockets.
Armed factions have promised vengeance for Soleimani’s death and have tied the termination of the attacks to the complete withdrawal of American forces from the country.
On July 26, Baghdad and Washington agreed to remove US forces from Iraq by the end of 2021 in the fourth and last session of strategic consultation.
As the coalition switches to an advising role to continue supporting Iraqi forces, some 2,500 soldiers will remain.
According to a coalition source, US forces shot down two drones that were armed, targeting the coalition at Baghdad airport on January 3.