March 3, 2021 Daily Mail by Chris Pleasance
* Multiple rockets hit Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq's Anbar province on Wednesday
* Attack was launched from a site around five miles from the base, sources said
* It is the latest in a series of attacks on US forces in Iraq, and comes after Joe Biden launched his administration's first strike on Iran-backed militants in Syria
* Attack also comes just two days before Pope Francis is due to visit the country
A civilian contractor died during a rocket strike against a US airbase in Iraq just days after President Joe Biden's first airstrike against Iranian-backed militants reportedly killed 22 people.
At least 10 rockets hit a US airbase in Iraq on Wednesday in the latest in a series of attacks on American forces in the country.
Iraqi and Western security sources said that the contractor died of a heart attack. No other casualties have been reported in the attack.
The rockets were fired at Ain al-Asad air base, in western Anbar province, around 7.20am local time from a launcher located five miles from the base, sources said.
The attack on the sprawling base is the fourth time in less than three weeks that rockets hit a Western installation in the country.
Ain al-Assad hosts both Iraqi forces and troops from the US-led coalition helping fight remnants of the Islamic State group - as well as the unmanned drones they use to surveil jihadist sleeper cells.
It is not yet clear who carried out the strikes but it comes days after US President Joe Biden approved his first airstrike - an attack on two Iranian-backed Shia militia groups in Syria that left 22 dead.
Coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto confirmed that 10 rockets hit the base at 7:20 am (0420 GMT), but did not provide details on any casualties.
Iraqi security forces said they had found the platform from which 10 'Grad-type rockets' hit the Ain al-Assad base.
Western security sources told AFP the rockets in today's attack were Iranian-made Arash models, which are 122mm artillery rockets and heavier than those seen in similar strikes.
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