Iraq: Rockets target airbase near Baghdad after clashes with Islamic State (IS)
Four rockets hit the Al-Balad airbase north of the Iraqi capital on Saturday, the military said, as security sources told AFP a local contractor for a US company managing Iraq’s F-16s had been wounded.
The attack came hours after Iraqi security forces raided an Islamic State (IS) hideout in the plains of Tarmiyah, with clashes leaving five jihadists and two pro-government fighters dead, according to the Iraqi military.
F-16s at the Al-Balad airbase were backing the ongoing Tarmiyah operation against IS sleeper cells at the time of the rocket attack, two security sources told AFP.
Al-Balad is around 60km north of Tarmiyah.