BAGHDAD, Feb 16 (NNN-NINA) – A civilian contractor was killed and five others wounded, including a U.S. soldier, in a rocket attack yesterday, that targeted Erbil airport, which houses a U.S.-led coalition military base, in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
Col. Wayne Marotto, Spokesman of CJTF-OIR (Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve), said, initial reports stated, “indirect fire landed on coalition forces in Erbil tonight (last night). There was one civilian contractor killed, five civilian contractors injured, and one U.S. service member injured.”
Marotto did not give further details about the nationality of the civilian contractors, but said that more information will follow.
Marotto’s tweet came, hours after unidentified militants fired rockets at Erbil airport and near it, according to Kurdish security sources.
The regional Ministry of Interior said, several rockets were fired at 9:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) on several areas in Erbil, injuring several civilians.
Another statement, by the media office of Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, also Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi forces, said that, al-Kadhimi ordered a joint investigation with the Kurdish regional authorities over the rocket attack.
Earlier in the night, a brief statement issued by the regional Counter-Terrorism Service said that, three rockets were fired on Erbil, Two of them landed in Erbil airport, and the third landed outside.
A security source pointed out, the third rocket struck the fence of the residential complex of Naz City near the airport, wounding two people and damaging several nearby shops.
The Kurdish region in northern Iraq has been relatively peaceful, but such attacks have frequently targeted Baghdad airport and Iraqi military bases, housing U.S. troops, as well as, the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone, with mortar and rocket attacks.– NNN-NINA
