Rockets Hit Iraqi Base North of Baghdad

Iraqi security forces gather at a checkpoint into the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/Files
Iraqi security forces gather at a checkpoint into the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/Files
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Rockets Hit Iraqi Base North of Baghdad

Iraqi security forces gather at a checkpoint into the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/Files
Iraqi security forces gather at a checkpoint into the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/Files

Two Katyusha rockets hit an Iraqi base north of Baghdad late Saturday but missed US-led coalition troops stationed there, Iraq's military and a coalition official said.

A statement from Iraq's security forces said the rockets were launched north of Baghdad and did not cause any damage to the Taji base.

A coalition official confirmed the projectiles fell outside the coalition's segment of the base.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

It was the third attack in a week to target US troops or diplomats.

Two rockets struck the grounds of the vast Baghdad airport complex on Monday and an unguided rocket hit close to the fortified US embassy two days later.

The attacks follow several weeks of relative respite from more than two dozen similar incidents in recent months.

Since October, at least 30 attacks have targeted American troops or diplomats, severely straining ties between Baghdad and Washington.

Tensions reached boiling point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike in Baghdad.

Washington has accused armed groups backed by Iran for the repeated rocket attacks. But it also blamed the Iraqi government for not doing enough to protect US installations.

The first session of the much-anticipated strategic talks between the US and Iraq began Thursday, and is to lay the agenda for the months ahead, including the presence of US troops in the country, Iran-backed militia groups acting outside of the state and Iraq’s dire economic crisis.

US Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker, in comments to reporters in Washington following the session, said Iraq had committed to “moving ahead and undertaking their obligations,” with regards to militia attacks targeting the American presence.



Lebanon Asks Medical Centers to Make Room for People from Beirut Southern Suburbs

Residents check the damage in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment in Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Residents check the damage in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment in Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
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Lebanon Asks Medical Centers to Make Room for People from Beirut Southern Suburbs

Residents check the damage in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment in Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Residents check the damage in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment in Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

Patients in hospitals in Beirut’s southern suburbs will be evacuated to medical centers in the capital and the nearby Mount Lebanon region, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Saturday.

In a statement carried by state news agency (NNA) , the ministry called on hospitals in Beirut and Mount Lebanon to stop receiving cases that can be delayed in order to receive patients evacuating from the hard-hit southern suburb of Dahiyeh.

The ministry’s decision came after a night of Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, a predominantly Shiite district and a Hezbollah stronghold.

The ministry also called on hospitals and medical centers to care for ill people who fled Dahiyeh overnight as a result of the airstrikes.