Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Two Americans, one British soldier dead in rocket attack in Iraq

Missile barrage on military base north of Baghdad wounds 12 • Iranian proxy group believed to be responsible.

U.S. soldiers await extraction via CH-47 Chinook during an aerial response force live-fire training exercise in Iraq, Oct. 31, 2018. Credit: 1st Lt. Leland White/U.S. Army National Guard.
U.S. soldiers await extraction via CH-47 Chinook during an aerial response force live-fire training exercise in Iraq, Oct. 31, 2018. Credit: 1st Lt. Leland White/U.S. Army National Guard.

At least two Americans and one British soldier were killed, and 12 others wounded, on Wednesday in a rocket attack against a U.S. military base in Iraq.

Camp Taji, located just north of Baghdad, was hit by 18 rockets, according to Politico. The Americans killed were a soldier and a contractor, according to AFP.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the strike as “abhorrent.”

“Our servicemen and women work tirelessly every day to uphold security and stability in the region—their presence makes us all safer,” said Johnson. “The foreign secretary has spoken to the U.S. secretary of state, and we will continue to liaise with our international partners to fully understand the details of this abhorrent attack.”

Those responsible are believed to be Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades), an Iraqi Shia paramilitary group and part of the Popular Mobilization Forces supported by Iran.

Kataib Hezbollah also is believed to be responsible for a Dec. 27 rocket strike against the U.S. military base in Kirkuk, Iraq, which killed an American contractor.

This report first appeared in the Jewish Journal.

A New York district court judge ruled that the janitors, who were subjected to anti-Jewish slurs, could not prove that the protesters occupied the campus building.
The Democratic political consultant Jared Sclar told JNS that “the results will cut in more than one direction, and that split is the story.”
A ceremony took place at Mossad headquarters to welcome its new director, who will serve a five-year term.
An alleged Keta’ib Hezbollah commander pleaded not guilty to plotting to attack a Manhattan synagogue, telling the court that he is not guilty because he is “in a war situation.”
The Isaac Accords Fund will see public and private investment in Latin America and the Caribbean in “essential sectors for sustainable economic growth,” said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
“I was proud to march in the Israel Day parade to celebrate the nation and the State of Israel, a Jewish and democratic state that is distinct from its government,” Rep. Dan Goldman said at the debate.