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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.

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