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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Iraq: Several Rockets Strike Near Baghdad Airport

Members of the Iraqi security forces wearing protective masks keep watch at Tahrir Square in central Baghdad on May 5, 2020 during of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after authorities eased up the lockdown measures that they had imposed in a bid to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus Covid-19. / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

The Iraqi military said that three Katyusha rockets fell near the military sector of the Baghdad airport early on Wednesday but caused no casualties.

This came hours ahead of a parliament session that will vote on the proposed government of the latest prime minister-designate, Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

Iraqi security forces later discovered the launching pad for the rockets in the al-Barkiya area, west of Baghdad.

This attack is the first following a brief lull since March 26, when rockets struck near to the Baghdad Operations Command, a center that coordinates Iraq's police and military forces.

An Iraqi security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said one of the rockets struck close to Iraqi forces at the military airport, another near Camp Cropper, once a US detention facility, and the last near to where US forces are stationed at the base, the Associated Press reported.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Several previous attacks targeted US interests early in March, including three military bases known to house US troops. The US-led coalition has withdrawn from several bases across Iraq in a planned drawdown.

Washington has accused Iran-backed militias of carrying out such attacks in the past.

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