Iraq rocket attack kills foreign contractor, wounding US soldier and 5 others
- At least three rockets were fired in the direction of the airport at Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region
- This the first such strike on a Western military or diplomatic installation in the country in nearly two months
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised to “hold accountable those responsible” for a rocket attack on an airbase in Iraq’s Kurdistan region that killed a foreign civilian contractor and wounded five others and a US soldier.
The attack on Monday was the first time Western military or diplomatic installations have been targeted in Iraq in nearly two months, after a string of such incidents.
“We are outraged by today’s rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” Blinken said in a statement.
“I have reached out to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss the incident and to pledge our support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible.”
Barzani condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”.
Under former US president Donald Trump, Washington had vowed that the killing of an American national in such a rocket attack would prompt a mass bombing campaign in Iraq.
