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Iraqi Military Base Housing US Forces Attacked With Rockets

Reuters

   KIRKUK, IRAQ - Several rockets werelaunched Friday into Iraq's K1
   military base, which housesU.S. and Iraqi forces near the oil-rich city
   of Kirkuk, theIraqi military said in a statement without elaborating.

   It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

   Security sources saidtheyfound a launchpad forKatyusha rockets inside
   an abandoned vehicle near the base.

   No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

   Islamic State militants operate in the area and have turnedto
   insurgency-style tactics aimed at bringing down thegovernment in
   Baghdad ever since it retook all territory anddeclared victory against
   them in December 2017.

   However, a senior U.S. military official said this monththat attacks by
   Iranian-backed groups on bases hosting U.S.forces in Iraq were
   gathering pace and becoming moresophisticated, pushing all sides closer
   to an uncontrollableescalation.

   His warning came two days after four Katyusha rockets strucka base near
   BaghdadInternationalAirport, wounding five membersof Iraq's elite
   Counter-Terrorism Service.It wasthe latest in a spateof rocket strikes
   on bases hosting members of the U.S.-ledcoalition,whose objective is to
   defeat Islamic State insurgents.

   The K1 base, which lies 15 km (9 miles) northwest of Kirkuk,in northern
   Iraq, houses U.S. military forces alongside Iraqiforces from the
   Federal Police and Counter-Terrorism Service,security sources said.

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