Image by Diego Gonzalez from Unsplash
On Friday 27 DEC, Iraqi rockets were launched into a US Military Base in Kirkuk. The affected base, known as K1, is located in Northern Iraq. The attack resulted in many U.S troops sustaining injuries, and also the unfortunate death of one civilian U.S military contractor.
With 5,000 soldiers currently deployed in Iraq, tensions have spiked and are extremely high. Speculative theories relevant to the culprit in these violent attacks differ greatly. “We’ve not seen ISIS conduct sophisticated rocket attacks in probably a year,” said one anonymous U.S. official who believed ISIS was to blame for the targeted attack. Two other U.S officials, however, strongly believe the deadly attacks were most likely conducted by Iranian-supported proxy forces.
Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S mission against the Islamic State in Iran and Iraq, stated that “Iraqi Security Forces are leading the response and investigation.” According to another U.S official, this attack marks the 11th rocket attack on U.S and Iraqi forces since the end of October 2019. Earlier this in DEC 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of two different missile assaults toward Baghdad International Airport on Dec. 9 and 11. Though it remains unclear as to who was behind the attacks, Pompeo released a strongly worded statement, letting enemies know that the U.S will retaliate with”a decisive response” if America’s allies or interests are targeted.
President Trump has not yet publicly responded to recent events in the Northern Iraqi territory.