Five American soldiers and two contractors were injured in a rocket attack on a US base in Iraq on Monday, a defense official said.
Two rockets hit Al-Asad air base in western Iraq at around 2pm (Brasília time) on Monday, according to the official.
Five injured people are receiving care at the air base and two have been evacuated for further care, but all seven are considered to be in stable condition, the official added. More details are expected.
It is still unclear who was behind the attack, but it comes at a time when tensions are rising in the Middle East. The US and Israel are preparing for an Iranian attack following the death of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied Haniyeh’s assassination, but Israeli forces have acknowledged the assassination in Lebanon of Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, also last week.
Both attacks are pushing the Middle East to the brink of a larger war, which has been simmering for months since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October.
Iran, which supports proxies in Iraq and Syria, has publicly promised to respond to Haniyeh’s death.
Iran-backed militants attacked US troops for months in Iraq and Syria, but halted the attacks after massive US strikes in February. The US strike earlier this year followed the deaths of three American soldiers at a base in Jordan following an Iranian proxy attack.
Dozens of US soldiers were injured in Iranian-backed attacks that began last year.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
